Tea-for-horse exchange between China and Tibet
From the Tang period, tea from the south-western provinces was carried by mule and porter into Tibet and exchanged for horses, which Chinese dynasties needed in quantity for cavalry and could not breed adequately themselves. The Song state formalised the exchange through dedicated tea and horse offices, and the arrangement persisted under the Ming and Qing. The first long-distance movement of tea was therefore overland, mountainous and strategic — a state procurement system rather than a maritime luxury trade.
Historical — it happened, and the record is settled.
Subjects
- Tea Horse Road (Chamagudao) · trade route · Yunnan – Sichuan – Tibetan Plateau · not located
- Tea · trade good · not located
- Yunnan · region · China
Evidence
Verified — Every field is supported by a cited authoritative source.
Earliest tea as evidence for one branch of the Silk Road across the Tibetan Plateau
Phytolith and biomolecular analysis identifies tea in the Han Yangling mausoleum (c. 2nd century BCE) and at Gurgyam, Ngari, western Tibet (c. 2nd–3rd century CE), evidencing early tea consumption and overland movement.
Scientific Reports (Nature Portfolio) · 2016-01-07 · Verified
Lu H. et al., Scientific Reports, vol. 6, article 18955 (2016), DOI 10.1038/srep18955; PMC4704058, PMID 26738699
Recorded on Tea Horse Road (Chamagudao)
- Tea buried in the Han Yangling mausoleum
- Tea-for-horse exchange between China and Tibet
- Tea first shipped to Europe by sea
- Qing trade confined to Canton
- Boston Tea Party
- Commutation Act cuts British tea duty
- Robert Bruce shown tea growing in Assam
- East India Company's China monopoly ends; Tea Committee founded
- The Opium Wars
- First Assam tea auctioned in London
- Treaty of Nanking
Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.
- Treaty of Nanking · 1842-08-29
- First Assam tea auctioned in London · 1839-01-10
- The Opium Wars · 1839–1860
- East India Company's China monopoly ends; Tea Committee founded · 1834
- Robert Bruce shown tea growing in Assam · 1823
- Commutation Act cuts British tea duty · 1784
- Boston Tea Party · 1773-12-16
- Qing trade confined to Canton · 1757