Liquid Jade: The Story of Tea from East to West Review

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(More customer reviews)This study of tea is a fine example of why so many people love history. Beatrice Hohenegger has taken something people use every day but rarely give more than a passing thought to and traced its history back thousands of years, encountering many strange byways and interconnections which link it to a much larger story. This, not the stereotypical long dry lists of battles and kings some unfortunates associate with the subject, is what makes history fascinating.
Liquid Jade is divided into four segments. In the first Hohenegger studies the origins of tea drinking in East Asia, describing the many legends of how tea first became the indispensable drink of the aristocracy and then the general population. I laughed at the stories of tea being picked by specially trained monkeys and by young girls deprived of spicy foods lest they contaminate the plants' aroma, and I was intrigued to read of tea's connections to the development of Buddhism (particularly Zen), Confucianism, and Daoism.
The second segment is devoted to tea's arrival in the West. Here we see the Europeans being introduced to and falling in love with tea, with a few unhappy missteps (A Portuguese woman boiled some tea leaves, threw away the water, and served the leaves to her unfortunate guests!) Once again Hohenegger does a fine job linking tea to the larger historic picture, identifying connections to the development of imperialism and colonization, and to the crazes for porcelain and opium.
In the third part Hohenegger providews a miscellany of details and trivia about tea, including the invention of tea-bags and iced tea, the ongoing controversy between those who advocate MIF or TIF, and the class differences between High and Low tea. I enjoyed this part best just because of the variety and scope of the information. Finally, in the fourth part Hohenegger examines tea and tea production today, describing the impact of terrorism in some tea growing areas, the role of environmentalism, and continuing concerns for the plight of tea workers.
Hohenegger writes with great detail and a light touch of humor now and then. Her scholarship is impeccable and made approachable by her fine writing style and dry wit. I hope we see more from her in the future.

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