Shennong and the Tea Antidote

The legendary Yan emperor Shennong was known as the pioneer of agriculture. According to legends, one day, Shennong accidentally ate a poisonous herb and immediately felt faint. He dragged himself to the nearest tree. He swallowed the bittersweet leaves and immediately felt better. He recovered soon after. That antidote was what we call tea today. It is not important if Shennong was only a legend. The important point is that even 5,000 years ago, the Chinese used tea leaves. In the beginning, they picked the fresh tea leaves. However, as fresh tea leaves were not suitable for storing or shipping, they slowly began drying and storing tea leaves.