Various Names for Tea Around the World: Are There Different Names Based on Land Routes and Sea Routes?
In Japanese, tea is called « 茶 (cha), » and in English, it’s « tea. » While the spelling and intonation differ slightly, most countries around the world use terms that are close to one of these two names. In this article, we’ll discuss the different ways tea is referred to.
Tea originated in China and spread to various countries around the world via land and sea routes. The names used for tea differ depending on whether they spread via maritime or overland routes. The « cha » names, derived from Cantonese, spread through the Silk Road, while the « te » names, derived from Fujianese, spread via maritime routes. Therefore, in the Asian continent, you will find « cha » names, whereas many European countries use « te » names.
You might wonder, « Why does Japan, which is not connected by land to China, use a term derived from the overland route? » Tea spread globally during the 16th to 17th centuries, but in Japan, tea was introduced much earlier, around the 8th to 9th centuries (early Heian period), through the Tang envoys. It is believed that the name used by the central Chinese government at that time was adopted. However, if tea had spread to Japan in the 16th to 17th centuries (Muromachi, Azuchi-Momoyama, or early Edo periods), the Japanese term might have been a « te » name.
The history of tea is quite fascinating, and I hope to discuss more historical aspects in the future. That concludes our discussion on the various names for tea.
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著者情報/ teploについて
teploは「美味しいお茶を世界中に届ける」というミッションを掲げるお茶のブランドです。
お茶メディアの運営、茶葉の買付・販売、お茶の抽出機の開発・販売、飲食店にむけたお茶のメニュー開発・レシピ開発等を総合的にサポートしています。
