According to historical texts, Lu'an Melon Seed Tea was first recorded in
The Classic of Tea.
The Classic of Tea was the first book about general tea knowledge, and contained a brief introduction about tea categories and how to prepare tea. It was written by
Lu Yu (733–804 CE) during the
Tang dynasty (618–907 CE). In contrast to the processing methods for other kinds of green tea such as
Longjing, Lu'an Melon Seed Tea is a baked green tea which causes the taste of the tea to be different from other types of green tea in China. During the
Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Lu'an Melon Seed Tea was widely used to prevent
sunstroke by the Chinese. The Chinese Christian
Xu Guangqi (1562–1633), who was also a well-known scientist writing in his
Agricultural Encyclopedia that "laminar tea from
Lu'an Prefecture is a top-grade tea". Lu'an Melon Seed Tea was a type of
gong cha ("tribute tea") to the imperial family during the
Qing dynasty (1644–1911). It was enjoyed by the
Guangxu Emperor (r. 1878–1908) and
Empress Dowager Cixi (r. 1861–1908). Lu'an Melon Seed Tea was also mentioned about 80 times by the writer
Cao Xueqin (1715–1763) in his novel
Dream of the Red Chamber. ==See also==