How Tea Moved

When these happened

14 dated records from 146 BCE to 1860. Each is drawn as wide as its date is certain — a band is a band because nobody knows the year, not because the drawing is imprecise.

14 shown · 14 dated · 0 cannot be placed on an axis · Approximate or contested. Draw a band and do not sharpen its edges.

In order14

c. 141 BCETea buried in the Han Yangling mausoleum
It happened, and the record is settled.
618–1279Tea-for-horse exchange between China and Tibet
It happened, and the record is settled.
c. 1610Tea first shipped to Europe by sea
It happened, and the record is settled.
1757Qing trade confined to Canton
It happened, and the record is settled.
1773-12-16Boston Tea Party
It happened, and the record is settled.
1784Commutation Act cuts British tea duty
It happened, and the record is settled.
1823Robert Bruce shown tea growing in Assam
It happened, and the record is settled.
1834East India Company's China monopoly ends; Tea Committee founded
It happened, and the record is settled.
1839–1860The Opium Wars
It happened, and the record is settled.
1839-01-10First Assam tea auctioned in London
It happened, and the record is settled.
1839-06-03/1839-06-25Lin Zexu destroys confiscated opium at Humen
It happened, and the record is settled.
1841First tea planted at Darjeeling
It happened, and the record is settled.
1842-08-29Treaty of Nanking
It happened, and the record is settled.
1848–1851Robert Fortune removes tea plants and tea makers from China
It happened, and the record is settled.