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The history of tea is long and complex, spreading across multiple cultures over the span of thousands of years. Tea likely originated in southwest China during the Shang dynasty as a medicinal drink.〔 An early credible record of tea drinking dates to the 3rd century AD, in a medical text written by Hua Tuo.〔 Tea was first introduced to Portuguese priests and merchants in China during the 16th century.〔 Drinking tea became popular in Britain during the 17th century. The British introduced tea production, as well as tea consumption, to India, in order to compete with the Chinese monopoly on tea.〔 ==Geographic origins== "''Camellia sinensis'' originated in southeast Asia, specifically around the intersection of latitude 29°N and longitude 98°E, the point of confluence of the lands of northeast India, north Burma, southwest China and Tibet. The plant was introduced to more than 52 countries, from this ‘centre of origin’."〔 citing Mondal (2007) p. 519〕 Based on morphological differences between the Assamese and Chinese varieties, botanists have long asserted a dual botanical origin for tea; however, statistical cluster analysis, the same chromosome number (2n=30), easy hybridization, and various types of intermediate hybrids and spontaneous polyploids all appear to demonstrate a single place of origin for ''Camellia sinensis'' — the area including the northern part of Burma, and Yunnan and Sichuan provinces of China.〔 "For a long time, botanists have asserted the dualism of tea origin from their observations that there exist distinct differences in the morphological characteristics between Assamese varieties and Chinese varieties. Hashimoto and Shimura reported that the differences in the morphological characteristics in tea plants are not necessarily the evidence of the dualism hypothesis from the researches using the statistical cluster analysis method. In recent investigations, it has also been made clear that both varieties have the same chromosome number (2n=30) and can be easily hybridized with each other. In addition, various types of intermediate hybrids or spontaneous polyploids of tea plants have been found in a wide area extending over the regions mentioned above. These facts may prove that the place of origin of ''Camellia sinensis'' is in the area including the northern part of the Burma, Yunnan, and Sichuan districts of China."〕 Yunnan Province has also been identified as "the birthplace of tea…the first area where humans figured out that eating tea leaves or brewing a cup could be pleasant." Fengqing County in the Lincang City Prefecture of Yunnan Province in China is said to be home to the world's oldest cultivated tea tree, some 3,200 years old.〔''The Oldest Tea Tree on the Earth'', (Kunming, 2006).〕〔(News article about oldest tea tree )〕 According to ''The Story of Tea'', tea drinking likely began in modern-day Yunnan province during the Shang Dynasty (1500 BC–1046 BC), as a medicinal drink.〔 From there, the drink spread to Sichuan, and it is believed that there "for the first time, people began to boil tea leaves for consumption into a concentrated liquid without the addition of other leaves or herbs, thereby using tea as a bitter yet stimulating drink, rather than as a medicinal concoction." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of tea」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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