The Secret Decree

According to the records in the "Biography of Wei Yao" in the volume "History of Wu" in The History of the Three Kingdoms, the reigning monarch of the Kingdom of Wu, Sun Hao, was a lover of wine. Wei Yao, a Knowledgeable and talented official of his kingdom unfortunately could not hold his drink. To save him from embarrassing himself, Sun Hao secretly changed his wine into a liquid of a similar color, tea. This shows that both tea and wine were beverages that were frequently used in court. Even today, people who cannot hold their alcohol use tea to toast each other.