An Analysis on Pseudo-Tea from Perspective of Chinese Medical Literature

Abstract

As export of Chinese tea gradually developed and peaked in the 19th century, reports on pseudo-tea started appearing frequently, attracting attention from both the government and merchants. Although pseudo-tea has existed in both China and western countries, the western merchants adulterate tea specifically for profits. In contrast, pseudo-tea emerged in China with the popularization of tea drinking and its use has also been recorded in literature. In many studies on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) literature, pseudo-tea such as leaf of Liu/Babylon weeping willow, Huai/Chinese scholar tree, Shinan/Chinese photinia, and Gaolu/big leaf tea have not only been identified and recognized, but also considered particularly suitable for mixing with genuine tea. Tea is a medicinal and edible product, and public cognition on tea production and tea drinking is influenced by TCM literature. Hence people always mix pseudo-tea with genuine tea as a common practice. However, pseudo-tea was behind the decline of Chinese tea trade in the foreign trade market when western countries entered the high-quality tea trade and started developing colonial tea industry. This article discusses the "Pseudo-Tea", defines as in TCM literature, or substitute genuine tea for drinking, or blends and decocts with genuine tea for drinking, which all constitute the pseudo-tea.