Further Reading

Six books for readers who want to go further, chosen to match this exhibition’s central question: what travels when tea travels?

Victor H. Mair and Erling Hoh, The True History of Tea

A broad, readable history that follows tea across regions, languages, trade routes, and political change. It is a useful starting point for the exhibition’s central question—what travels when tea travels—while more specialized studies can add detail and debate.

Kevin Gascoyne, François Marchand, Jasmin Desharnais, and Hugo Américi, Tea: History, Terroirs, Varieties

Created by the Camellia Sinensis tea team, this illustrated introduction connects tea regions, processing, tasting, and brewing. It works especially well for visitors who want practical knowledge after seeing “One Plant, Many Teas.”

James A. Benn, Tea in China: A Religious and Cultural History

Benn examines tea in relation to Buddhism, ritual, medicine, material practice, and cultural history in China. It offers helpful depth for reading the exhibition’s Chan references without turning a later slogan into a timeless, single tradition.

陆羽《茶经》 — Lu Yu, Classic of Tea

Lu Yu’s Classic of Tea is a foundational Tang-dynasty text on tea materials, tools, preparation, and judgement. Read it as a work from a specific historical world, not as a timeless manual for every Chinese tea practice.

陈宗懋、杨亚军主编《中国茶经》（修订版）

This large reference work brings together tea history, science, production, categories, culture, and contemporary industry in China. It is best used selectively as a reference rather than read as a single narrative from beginning to end.

吴觉农《茶经述评》

Wu Juenong’s commentary places the Classic of Tea in dialogue with modern tea scholarship and production knowledge. It shows how a classic text can be re-read through later historical questions rather than simply repeated.