Coming soon! The first major book from our new publishing venture Plum Rain Press (English translation): "Three Tribes in Dutch Formosa" by Dr. Chen Yao-chang 陳耀昌.
Oct. 19, 2023

S3-E31 - The “Tea Thief” - Robert Fortune's Very Brief Trip to Taiwan (1854)

S3-E31 - The “Tea Thief” - Robert Fortune's Very Brief Trip to Taiwan (1854)

Tea was domesticated in China, and the knowledge of how to grow it, harvest it, and process it was a closely guarded secret. After basically becoming addicted to the beverage, the British needed to find a way to grow their own tea, as buying it from China was eating up their silver reserves. So, missions of “tea espionage” were conducted, most notably by a Mr. Robert Fortune, who had the good fortune to be able to visit Taiwan on a whirlwind trip. He only spent a day on the island, but he wrote about it, giving us a look at pre-treaty port Qing era Taiwan, and he made several interesting botanical discoveries.

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The History of Taiwan - Formosa Files

Cover images: A map of areas visited by Robert Fortune (left), an image of Robert Fortune, (top left), and (right), an image of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) from Köhler's Medicinal Plants.

READ ABOUT: the Chinese steamer Confuciusthe ship that took Robert Fortune to Taiwan for a very short visit in 1854. The ship's story is quite interesting. 

Below: Lilium formosanum. A lily endemic to Taiwan and first, wrongly as it turned out, identified by Robert Fortune as the Japanese lily. Via Wikimedia Commons.

 

Tea production – 2020
Country Million
tonnes
 China
2.97
 India
1.2
Kenya Kenya
0.43
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka
0.34
 Vietnam
0.214
 Turkey
0.212
 Iran
0.16
 Indonesia
0.14
 Argentina
0.10
 Japan
0.08
Source: Worldatlas/Wikimedia commons

Below: A 19th-century Japanese painting depicting Shennong: Chinese legends credit Shennong with the invention of tea. Via Wikimedia Commons.

 

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