View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE

provided by Archivio istituzionale della ricerca - Università degli Studi di Venezia Ca' Foscari

1

or tea drinking in Il Milione. 1. The departure of , LIVIO ZANINI Some scholars believe that these Livre des merveilles, circa 1412, Before the Arrival of Tea in Europe. omissions prove that Polo never reached ms. Français 2810, f. 4r (, The Chinese beverage in western Cathay. Others point out that Il Milione is Bibliothèque nationale de France, sources prior to the 17th century actually the work of his Pisan editor who Département des Manuscrits). intended to write a chivalric romance based on Polo’s notes, which were The Chronica imaginis mundi written by mainly concerned with trade and other the Dominican friar Jacopo d’Acqui matters potentially of interest to the narrates that as Marco Polo lay dying, his Mongol ruler in whose service he was.2 friends gathered around his death bed to Moreover, at the time of Polo’s journey, beg him to renounce the exaggerations the Great Wall had been in ruins for and lies that he had told about his centuries and served no purpose to the journeys in Asia and that he refused new conquerers, footbinding had only their advice, claiming that he had not been recently introduced to Chinese mentioned even half of the wonderful society, and Chinese characters were things that he had seen.1 just one of the many incomprehensible Today we have no way of knowing writing systems encountered by the whether this episode described by Venetian traveller crossing the territories Jacopo d’Acqui really did take place or of the vast Mongol empire, explaining 1. MICHELI 1924, p. 158. what wonders Polo was alluding to, but why he did not notice these things or we do know that there are numerous consider them worth including. 2. The doubts raised about the veracity of gaps in his account of his travels. For As far as tea is considered, it is likely Polo’s journey by WOOD 1995, are refuted with example, there is no mention of the Great that Polo did encounter this drink, the support of abundant evidence by both Wall, of footbinding, Chinese characters, even if there is no mention of it in HAW 2006 and VOGEL 2012.

133 Il Milione. At the time of his arrival Hânfû () in the 9th century in , the custom of drinking a and described in the pharmacopoeia beverage prepared from the leaves of Kitāb al-saydana by the Persian scholar the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) had been Al-Biruni (973-1050).7 diffused throughout the country for at After conquering China and founding least four centuries.3 the Yuan dynasty (1279-1367), the The Classic of Tea or Chajing, the earliest Mongolian court took control of and known and the most famous of all extended the imperial cultivations China’s tea treatises, was published established by the Song, imposing strict during the Tang dynasty (618-906) controls on tea production and trading.

2 and the imperial tea gardens were So by the time of Marco Polo’s arrival, 2. Central Asian horse. opened during this same period. tea was not only widely used throughout Li Gonglin (1049-1106), Tea reached the height of popularity the Chinese empire, it was also known in Wuma tu, detail, 11th century in the courts of the Song dynasty the neighbouring lands. (Tokyo, National Museum). (970-1279) – whose fall was witnessed Maybe it was precisely the wide by Polo – subsequently spreading diffusion of tea drinking that caused through all levels of society. In 1107, Polo to consider it an ordinary Emperor Huizong (reigned 1100-1126), custom not worth dwelling on. who was famed as a scholar, artist, and Although Il Milione contains enthusiastic aesthete, wrote a treatise on tea4 that and sometimes blatantly exaggerated described Hangzhou, the last Song descriptions of twelve thousand stone capital, at the dawn of the Mongol bridges; of the streets, shops, and palaces conquest, with its streets lined with tea in Quisai (Hangzhou) and includes shops and tea houses.5 details about its inhabitants who “eat The monograph also contains a famous the flesh of dogs and other beasts, such passage listing the ‘Seven Necessities’ as no Christian would touch for the that one needed to live: “firewood, rice, world,”8 there is not even a passing oil, salt, soya sauce, vinegar, and tea”. 6 reference to the consumption of tea or By now tea was an essential component to the numerous tea houses serving this of the daily diet of most Chinese as beverage in the Song capital. well as being widely consumed among Over two and a half centuries would neighbouring peoples. pass before tea was mentioned in a text Already in the Tang period, tea was published in the West, thanks to another exported to Tibet, and during the representative of the Republic of . Song dynasty huge quantities of tea The Trevisan Giovanni Battista Ramusio were sent to the Himalayan kingdom (1485-1557) served as secretary to the in exchange for the horses needed to ambassador of the Republic of Venice equip the Chinese armies fighting for many years before being appointed off the continuous incursions of secretary of the Council of Ten in 3. ZANINI 2005. nomadic peoples pushing at the 1553. Although Ramusio never actually north-western borders. travelled beyond Europe, he collected 4. Daguan chalun (Treatise on Tea of the The preparation of tea is depicted in a over fifty memoirs and accounts of Daguan Reign): CHEN 1999, pp. 70-72. few wall paintings of the Liao dynasty journeys and explorations spanning (1093-1117) founded north of the the period from classic antiquity until 5. Mengliang lu (Record of Reminiscing on the Past) Song empire by the Qidan, a federation of the that were published by Wu Zimu: CHEN 1999, p. 255; ZANINI 2012, tribes originally from Manchuria whose in three volumes under the title p. 29. name gave rise to the term ‘Cathay’. Delle navigationi et viaggi. Tea was also introduced to Japan during In the Dichiaratione included in the 6. ZANINI 2012, p. 29. this period, first spreading through the preface to the second volume, which 7. REINAUD 1845, vol. 1, p. 40; AL-BIRUNI 1973, Buddhist monasteries and then becoming was published posthumously in 1559 pp. 105-106. diffused among nobles and merchants. and contains the travels of Marco Tea was mentioned in the travel accounts Polo and the Venetian ambassadors 8. POLO 1845, p. 188. Italian version in of the Persian merchant Sulaiman al- in Persia, Ramusio describes a dinner POLO 1827, pp. 140-141. Tajir who travelled to in the port of party he attended in Murano in

The Tea Gardens of Dazhangshan 134 International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens 2019 3. Three ladies preparing tea. Wall painting in tomb of Zhang Shigu, detail, Xuanhua, Hebei, Liao dynasty (1093-1117).

3 the company of a Persian merchant began his account, explaining that originally from Chilan called Chaggi he had bought the rhubarb in Memet (the Turkish translation of person at Succuir (Jiuquan, in Gansu his Persian name H· ajji Moh· ammad), province), which was the first Chinese who had travelled to Venice with city encountered by travellers on a large consignment of rhubarb. the Silk Road. Also present were two of Ramusio’s Situated immediately after the oasis friends: Tommaso Giunti (1494-1566), of Dunhuang, foreign caravans were a Venetian printer and publisher of not allowed to proceed beyond this Delle navigationi et viaggi, and Michele point. He provided numerous details Sanmicheli (1484-1559), the celebrated about rhubarb, which was one of the Veronese architect and designer of most important medicinal substances numerous fortifications in the Venetian imported to Europe at that time and Levant. Another guest was Michele showed them a drawing of the plant. Membrè (1509-1594), an “expert in Then noticing Ramusio’s interest Arabic, Persian, and Turkish”9 appointed in hearing about these matters, as the Republic’s official Turkish H· ajji Moh· ammad told him of another interpreter by the Senate in 1550 and plant grown and used by the Chinese: who rendered his services to Ramusio “he told me that all over Cahay they on this as on other occasions. made use of another plant or rather of After the meal, the Persian merchant its leaves. This is called by those people 9. RAMUSIO 1559, c. 14v.

Livio Zanini, Before the Arrival of Tea in Europe. The Chinese beverage in western sources prior to the 17th century 135 5 Chai Catai and grows in the district Goa and the following year he captured of Cathay which is called Cacian-fu.10 the , a tributary This is commonly used and much of the Ming empire (1368-1644). esteemed all over those countries. From 1514 onwards, Portuguese ships They take of that herb, whether dry began to trade in Chinese ports and or fresh, and boil it well in water. three years later King Manuel I sent One or two cups of this decoction a letter via a diplomatic mission taken on an empty stomach removes to the court of . However, fever, headache, stomach ache, pain in due to a combination of factors 4 the side or in the joints, and it should including the intervening death of 4. Giovanni Battista Ramusio, be taken as hot as you can bear it. the Zhengde Emperor (1505-1521), the Delle navigationi et viaggi, He said, besides, that it was good for no mistrust of the Chinese authorities and Stamperia de Giunti, Venice 1559, end of other ailments which he could the complaints of the deposed Malaccan title page. not remember, but gout was one of them. Sultan, the mission failed. And if it happens that one feels In 1522, the legates were sent back to 5. The first description incommoded in the stomach of Canton (Guangzhou) where they were of tea in a European text: having eaten too much, one has but imprisoned, and numerous Portuguese Giovanni Battista Ramusio, to take a little of this decoction, and merchants were killed or expelled. Delle navigationi et viaggi, Stamperia de Giunti, Venice 1559, in a short time all will be digested. The following years were marked by detail, f. 15v. And it is so highly valued and esteemed frequent clashes between Portuguese that every one going on a journey takes merchant ships and the Chinese fleet. it with him, and those people would During this period there is no mention gladly give a sack of rhubarb for one of tea among the goods purchased ounce of Chai Catai. And those people by the Portuguese in China or in the of Cathay do say if in our parts of letters sent back home by the members world, in Persia, and the country of the of the unsuccessful diplomatic mission Franks, people only knew of it, there captive in Canton. The mission was is no doubt that the merchants would headed by (circa 1465-1524), cease altogether to buy rhubarb.”11 an apothecary and botanist who Therefore, it was not until the 1550s had travelled to Asia in 1512 and that the first news of tea reached had been appointed ambassador by Europe via a Persian merchant and was the Governor of then recorded in writing. Lopo Soares (1460-1520). Nevertheless, some decades before While still in Malacca, Pires collected Ramusio collected this information a vast amount of information on the about China and tea, while comfortably geography, history, and culture of the seated in a tavern in Murano, the various countries in southern and eastern 10. The Chinese province of Sichuan. Portuguese had already sailed around Asia that he included in his treatise the Cape of Good Hope to reach the Suma oriental. The text, which was 11. UKERS 1935, vol. 1, p. 23. Italian version in eastern seas. In 1510, Captain Afonso completed in 1515, contains a description RAMUSIO 1559, c. 15v (see, here, fig. 5). de Albuquerque (1453-1515) conquered of China and of the Chinese based

The Tea Gardens of Dazhangshan 136 International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens 2019 mainly on his contacts with Chinese in was not just economically motivated Malacca and mentions that they enjoyed but also driven by the wish to evangelize Portuguese grape wine, tending to drink the newly ‘discovered’ territories, which to excess as well as consuming huge is why it was common to find religious quantities of “all sorts of beverages”12 on most Portuguese naval expeditions. – it is extremely likely that these After the foundation of the Society of beverages included tea. Jesus in 1540, numerous members of this In 1554, over thirty years after the order, originating from various European breakdown of relations with China, the countries, set off on Portuguese vessels Portuguese captain Leonel de Sousa travelling along the Carreira da Índia, the signed the first agreement with the route from to Goa, and from there authorities of Canton giving Portuguese onto Malacca and ports in the far east. ships the right to trade legally in that Epistulary exchanges and the sending port. In 1556, the Dominican friar of reports was officially encouraged by a Gaspar da Cruz (circa 1520-1570) directive of 1553 urging the members of reached , a Portuguese trade the Society of Jesus to collect information colony that was officially recognized on the countries to which they travelled, and leased to the Portuguese by the including details on geographical position, Chinese authorities the following year. climate, latitude, neighbouring countries, Da Cruz first left in 1548 on clothing, food, housing, and the customs an apostolic mission, and after founding of the inhabitants.15 a house for his order in Malacca, he The publication of letters and accounts 6 spent two years in Cambodia where he written by the Jesuits ushered in a new 6. Portuguese fleet, in Livre unsuccessfully attempted to establish phase in the diffusion of knowledge de Lisuarte de Abreu, 1565 a mission. In December 1556 Da Cruz in Europe about China and the other (New York, Morgan Library obtained permission to visit Canton Asian countries. and Museum). where he remained for over a month. The first Jesuit to travel to Asia was During his stay the friar carefully Francis Xavier (1506-1552), one of the observed every aspect of the city, Society’s founders, who landed in Goa had numerous contacts with in 1542. In 1547, Francis was in Malacca, locals, and took detailed notes waiting for a ship to India after an of the things that he had seen.13 expedition to the Moluccas, when he His book Tratado das coisas da China met a Portuguese captain called Jorge (Tractado em que se cotam muito por Álvarez who had just arrived from estenso as cousas da China), published in Japan where the Portuguese ships Evora in 1569, was the first European had been trading since 1543. Álvarez account of travels in China to be wrote an account for Francis Xavier published after Marco Polo’s work. of the things that he had seen in the Da Cruz was also the first western author country of the Rising Sun, including a to taste tea and describe its consumption: brief description of the eating habits “whatsoever person or persons come of the locals.16 He mentioned that the to any man of quality’s house, it is Japanese drank a wine made from rice customary to offer him on a fair tray and “another beverage that everybody 12. CORTESÃO 1944, vol. 1, p. 116; vol. 2, p. 393. in a porcelain cup (or as many cups as in general drinks, both adults and there are persons) a kind of warm water children”. He also stated that “in summer 13. BOXER 1967, pp. LVII-LXVII. which they call Cha, which is somewhat they drink hot barley water and in red and very medicinal, which they winter a herbal infusion, though I did 14. BOXER 1967, p. 169. Portuguese version use to drink, made from a concoction not discover what herbs they were. in DA CRUZ 2010, p. 164. of somewhat bitter herbs; with this They avoid drinking cold water either in 15. DE LOYOLA 1903, p. 330. they commonly welcome all manner of summer or in winter”.17 In all probability persons that they do respect, be they these unknown herbs were tea leaves. 16. RUIZ DE MEDINA 1990, pp. 1-2. acquaintances or be they not, and to The Portuguese captain’s account 14 me they offered it many times.” convinced Xavier to travel to Japan in 17. WILLIS 2012, pp. 396-397. Portuguese version Portugal’s maritime expansion into Asia the belief that there were good chances in RUIZ DE MEDINA 1990, pp. 12-13.

Livio Zanini, Before the Arrival of Tea in Europe. The Chinese beverage in western sources prior to the 17th century 137 7. Chinese literati drinking tea: Wen Zhengming, Pincha tu, detail, 1531 (Taipei, The Collection of National Palace Museum).

7

of evangelizing the country. After his to it. To make this drink, they pour half arrival in the Japanese archipelago in 1549, a nutshell of this powdered herb into a Xavier founded a Jesuit mission, which porcelain bowl, and then adding very hot remained open until the prohibition of water, they drink the brew. Christianity in 1614 and the subsequent All the utensils used for this purpose are expulsion of all of the missionaries very old – the iron kettles, the porcelain from the country.18 In 1551, Xavier bowl, the vessel containing the water to left Japan for China but died before rinse the porcelain bowl, the tripod on reaching his destination. which they place the lid of the iron kettle In 1555, Luis de Almeida (1525-1583), a so as not to lay it on the mats. merchant and licensed surgeon from The vessel containing the cha powder, Lisbon who was visiting Japan decided the spoon used to scoop it out, the to join the Society of Jesus. ladle to draw the hot water from the A letter written by Almeida in kettle, the hearth.”19 1565 contains the first detailed In the follow-up to his letter Almeida description of the equipment and wrote about a formal tea ceremony method used to prepare tea in Japan: to which he had been invited by a “there is a custom among the noble and Japanese merchant from Sakai who had wealthy Japanese to show their treasures converted to Christianity, describing to an honoured guest at his departure the room where it took place and the as a token of their esteem. precious objects displayed by his host. These treasures are made up of the The letter was included in the Historia 18. BOXER 1993, pp. 309-361. utensils with which they drink a das missões do Oriente, a text drawn up powdered herb, called cha, which is a by the procurator of the Jesuit college 19. MAFFEI 1589, c. 372r. delicious drink once one becomes used in Coimbra, Manuel da Costa (1525-?).

The Tea Gardens of Dazhangshan 138 International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens 2019 8. View of Macau: Theodore de Bry, Amacao, circa 1598 (Hong Kong, Museum of Art).

On pp. 140-141: 9. Abraham Ortelius, Indiae Orientalis, insularumque adiacientium typus, 1570.

10. Gaspar da Cruz, Tractado em que se contam muito por estenso as cousas da China, 1569, title page.

11. and , De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas suscepta ab Societate Jesu, apud Christoph. Mangium, Augsburg 1615, title page.

8 It was first published in Dillingen in which was experiencing great popularity 1571 as a Latin translation by Giovanni in Japan at that time and which had to be Pietro Maffei (Bergamo 1533-1603) mastered in order to be able to interact – who had entered the novitiate of with the Japanese elite. During his first the Society of Jesus – under the title visit to Japan from 1579 to 1582, the Rerum a Societate Iesu in Oriente gestarum. inspector general of the missions in the Later, Maffei used da Costa’s text as Indies, Alessandro Valignano (1539-1606), the basis for the history of Portuguese aware of the importance of the ritual use voyages and missions to the Indies that he of this beverage, gave precise instructions wrote at the invitation of King Henrique on how the drink was to be served to I of Portugal. This work was published the mission’s guests.21 In 1580, Joāo for the first time in Latin under the Rodrigues (1561-1633), who had arrived title Historiarum Indicarum in 1588 and in Japan as a sixteen-year-old only three in Italian the following year. years earlier, joined the Society of Jesus. Information on the use of tea in Japan He acquired a deep knowledge of the could also be found in L’universale Japanese language and culture that would fabrica del mondo, a work compiled by allow him to play a key role within the Giovanni Lorenzo d’Anania (1545-1609), mission until his expulsion from Japan in a geographer from Taverna near 1610. He went to Macau where he spent Catanzaro in Calabria. This text, which the next decade, working on a history was first printed in in 1573, of the introduction of Christianity to provides a picture of the most recent Japan at the request of his superiors. geographic knowledge in Europe at that He dedicated three chapters of the time. Regarding the customs of the first book of the introductory volume Japanese nobility, it notes that instead of to the tea ceremony, describing the 20. D’ANANIA 1576, p. 238. wine “they drink water mixed with a very process and the aesthetic principles 20 22 sweet powder that they call Chiam.” in great depth. Unfortunately, 21. COOPER 1989, pp. 105-111. The members of the Japanese mission Rodrigues’ history of the Japanese had an active interest in the art of tea, mission was never published and was 22. COOPER 2001, pp. 272-308.

Livio Zanini, Before the Arrival of Tea in Europe. The Chinese beverage in western sources prior to the 17th century 139 9 forgotten in Macau for over a century. translated and published in English The book containing his description of in 1596 by John Wolfe under the title tea is one of the few parts to survive.23 Iohn Huighen van Linschoten. His discours At the end of the 16th century, the of voyages into ye Easte and West Indies. Portuguese trade monopoly with the Van Linschoten’s text was the first to East was threatened by the arrival provide Dutch and English navigators 23. COOPER 2001, pp. XIII-XL. of new competitors. Jan Huyghen with the cartographic and nautical van Linschoten (1563-1611), a Dutch knowledge necessary to embark upon 24. KAMPS 2001. Catholic who served as the secretary voyages in the eastern seas. It also of the archbishop of Goa from 1583 to contained a description of the custom of 25. VAN LINSCHOTEN 1596, pp. 35-36; 1589, secretly wrote down in great detail tea drinking in Japan, the first notice of VAN LINSCHOTEN 1598, p. 46. everything that he could find out about this beverage in the Dutch language.25 trade and navigation routes in the eastern While the Jesuits were able to send 26. BOXER 1967, pp. LXVII-XCI. seas.24 A few years after his return to detailed information on the art of tea the Netherlands, in 1596, he published in Japan from the mid-16th century 27. SOUZA-TURLEY 2016, p. 582. Itinerario, voyage ofte schipvaert van Jan onwards, there was still little 28. CAI 2015. Huyghen van Linschoten naer Oost ofte information about the consumption Portugaels Indien and Reys-gheschrift vande of this beverage in China, its country 29. GONZÁLEZ DE MENDOZA 1853, p. 142. navigatien der Portugaloysers in Orienten. of origin. After Gaspar da Cruz, the Spanish version in GONZÁLEZ DE MENDOZA The first of these two works was second European to travel to China and

The Tea Gardens of Dazhangshan 140 International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens 2019 write about his personal tea-drinking The description of tea-drinking in China experience was the Augustinian friar in de Mendoza’s text, translated into Martín de Rada (1533-1578) from English, French, and German, represents Pamplona. In 1564, after a period the first mention of this beverage in as a missionary in Mexico, de Rada books printed in these languages: joined the expedition of his Basque “they giue great intertainement vnto their fellow-countryman Miguel López de guestes, and make them straightwayes a Legazpi (1502-1572), after which the beuer or collation with manie sortes of Spanish settled in Philippines. conserues and fruites, and good wine, and In 1575 the Spanish governor placed de an other kinde of drinke, that is generally Rada at the head of a small delegation vsed thorough out the whole kingdome, travelling to the coastal province of and is made of diuerse physicall hearbes, Fuijian, with the hope of being able to good to comfort the heart, the which establish a base there, as the Portuguese they warme when they drinke thereof. had done in Macau. After reaching These ceremeonies they vse when that Xiamen on board a Chinese junk, the one neighbour visite an other.”29 Spanish delegation spent over two The sixth book of Maffei’s Historiarum months in China, visiting the cities of Indicarum, which was entirely and Fuzhou, but did not dedicated to China, contains a succeed in their aim of establishing description of the cultures and other a base. After returning to Manila, de products of the country that also Rada wrote an account of his mission.26 mentions the custom of tea drinking: Describing Chinese ceremonies “although they do not extract wine from 10 and etiquette, de Rada noted: the vines as we do, but have a custom “when paying a visit to someone, after of preserving the grapes as a kind of everyone has exchanged bows and seated condiment for the winter, they yet press themselves, a servant brings a tray with out of a certain herb, a liquor which is a bowl of hot water for each guest. very healthy which is called Chia, and This water is boiled together with some they drink it hot, as do the Japanese. slightly bitter herbs and a morsel of And the use of this causes them not to conserved fruit. The guests are given a know the meaning of phlegm, heaviness bowl with a very small spoon; they eat the of the head, or running of the eyes, but fruit and drink the hot water. they live a long and happy life, without Although we did not care much for pain or infirmity of any sort.”30 that hot boiled water, we soon became His brief and rather vague description accustomed to it and got to like it for of Chinese tea suggests that Maffei, who this is always the first thing that is never travelled to the East himself, did served on any visit.”27 not have detailed first-hand sources on The custom of serving guests tea this argument. The same may be said containing sweet conserve described of the description of tea contained in by de Rada was much in vogue during the text in Delle cause della grandezza e the last century of the magnificenza delle città by the Piedmont although it was frowned upon by the essayst Giovanni Botero (1544-1617), connoisseurs of the period28. published for the first time in Venice Today, this custom only survives in a in the same year as Maffei’s book, and 11 few places and is usually associated with subsequently translated into Spanish special festivities. (1593), Latin (1602), and English Much of the information collected (1606): “they have also an herbe, out 1585, pp. 124-125; Italian version in GONZÁLEZ DE MENDOZA 1586, p. 136. by de Rada was included in Historia of which they presse a delicate iucye, de las cosas mas notables, ritos y costumbres, which serves them for drincke instead 30. MEW-ASHTON 1892, p. 249; Italian version del gran Reyno dela China, compiled of wyne. It also preserves their health, in MAFFEI 1589, c. 95v. by his Augustinian confrere Juan and frees them from all those evils, González de Mendoza (1545-1618) that the immoderate use of wyne 31. BOTERO 1606, p. 75. Italian version in and published in Rome in 1585. doth bree unto us.”31 BOTERO 1588, p. 61.

Livio Zanini, Before the Arrival of Tea in Europe. The Chinese beverage in western sources prior to the 17th century 141 12. Tea preparation. Wang Wen (1497-1576), Zhucha tu, 1558 (Taipei, The Collection of National Palace Museum).

12

When Maffei and Botero wrote their personages, but he does not go into treatises, the members of the Society detail.32 This suggests that he knew of Jesus had only recently crossed the that his correspondents were aware of borders of Macau into the Celestial this custom and would not require any Empire in order to begin their work further explanations. In a letter sent of evangelization there. Matteo Ricci, from in 1596, he referred (1552-1610), a Jesuit missionary from to a Descritione della Cina that he had Macerata, entered China in 1584, sought to send to Europe on numerous founding the first Jesuit mission house occasions over the previous years, in Zhaoqing, west of Guangzhou. although no copy of this is known today.33 In 1589 the residence was transferred to It was only in 1608 that Ricci began the nearby city of Shaozhou, and in the work on his Della entrata della Compagnia following years, missions were established di Giesù e Christianità nella Cina, his in Nanchang, in Province, and in complete history of the Chinese mission, Nanjiing. which was intended to make up for “all In 1601 Ricci reached the capital the failures to write in the past years”.34 of Beijing, where he founded a After reaching Europe, Ricci’s text was fourth residence and remained at translated into Latin by Nicolas Trigault the service of the imperial court as and first published in Augsburg in 1615 a scholar until his death. under Trigault’s name, meeting with In a number of the letters sent to inform immediate success. Tea is discussed 32. RICCI 2001, pp. 132, 133, 139, 199, 238. his superiors and other members of in two places in the first of the five the Society about the progress of the books making up this work: “I will 33. RICCI 2001, p. 326. mission in China, Ricci mentions the mention two or three things previously consumption of tea during the course unknown to us. One concerns a shrub 34. RICCI 2001, p. 525. of visits to officials and other eminent that does not bear fruit whose leaves

The Tea Gardens of Dazhangshan 142 International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens 2019 are used to make Cia, which is highly one or two small spoons of this powder regarded in those regions and in the into every cup, drinking the powder with surrounding areas. This custom cannot the water. In China they place half an be particularly old because there is ounce of these leaves into a jar of hot no mention of it in antique books. water then strain off the water to drink, This type of shrub may even grow in our leaving the leaves in the jar.”35 woods. They pick the leaves in spring “As soon as everyone is seated, a servant then place them in the shade to dry. wearing long robes comes to the table The leaves are used in a decoction with bearing a tray holding a number of cups water that is very popular because of that decoction of Cia that I described of its delicious taste and because it in the second chapter. Everyone seated, improves mood and digestion; it is drunk from the first to the last who will be the rather hot and throughout the day. master of the house, will take one of these For these reasons, it is drunk not only at cups. The cup also contains some dried meals but whenever guests come to the fruit or sweet conserve along with a small house, the first thing they are offered silver spoon or other elegant implement is a cup of Cia to drink. that can be used to eat this fruit. If their visit is protracted, they will be If guests remain seated for a long time, offered further cups, even three or four they will be served tea twice or thrice, times. There are many grades, each one of each time with a different dried fruit or a finer quality; some are worth one scudo, conserve in the cup.”36 others two or three. Tea is more expensive Ricci’s description of Chinese tea in Japan, with the best quality costing reveals his personal experience of tea ten to twelve scudi. It is also prepared in drinking – which coincides with the 35. RICCI 2000, p. 18. a different manner to China; in fact, in description given by Martin de Rada – Japan they powder the leaves then put as well as his knowledge of the reports 36. RICCI 2000, p. 60.

Livio Zanini, Before the Arrival of Tea in Europe. The Chinese beverage in western sources prior to the 17th century 143 about tea sent by missionaries in Japan. Nongye kaogu, 5, 2015, pp. 209-213. His description of the leaves being dried in the shade shows that he probably never CHEN 1999 had occasion to observe tea processing Zhongguo chawenhua jingdian (Classics first-hand on a tea plantation or did not of Chinese Tea Culture), edited by CHEN pay much attention to it. BINFAN, Guangming Ribao, Beijing 1999. In the following decades, other Jesuits sent even more detailed descriptions COOPER 1989 of tea production and consumption to MICHAEL COOPER, “The Early Europe. From the 1610s onwards, tea Europeans and Tea,” in Tea in Japan. made its first appearance on the European Essays on the history of Chanoyu, edited by market, where it was imported by the PAUL VARLEY, University of Hawaii Press, ships of the Dutch East India Company.37 Honolulu 1989, pp. 101-134. Following its arrival in Europe, tea stopped being the curious beverage COOPER 2001 from distant shores mentioned in the MICHAEL COOPER, Joāo Rodrigues’s accounts of travellers and missionaries, Account of the Sixteenth-Century Japan, soon winning over the palates of new The Hakluyt Society, London 2001. enthusiastic tea lovers. CORTESÃO 1944 The Suma Oriental of Tomé Pires, edited by ARMANDO CORTESÃO, The Hakluyt Bibliography Society, London 1944, 2 vols (archive.org).

AL-BIRUNI 1973 D’ANANIA 1576 MUHAMMAD IBN AHMAD AL-BIRUNI, GIOVANNI LORENZO D’ANANIA, L’universale Al-Biruni’s Book on Pharmacy and Materia fabrica del mondo, Vidali, Venice 1586 Medica, edited by HAKIM MOHAMMED (gallica.bnf.fr). SAID, Hamdard National Foundation, Karachi 1973. DA CRUZ 2010 GASPAR DA CRUZ, Tratado das coisas BOTERO 1588 da China, Sociedade Editora de Livros GIOVANNI BOTERO, Delle cause della de Bolso, Lisbon 2010. grandezza delle città, Giovanni Martinelli, Rome 1588 (archive.org). DE LOYOLA 1903 IGNACIO DE LOYOLA, Monumenta Ignatiana, BOTERO 1606 Epistoalae et instructiones, Typis Gabriel GIOVANNI BOTERO, A Treatise Concerning Lopez del Horno, Madrid 1903, vol. 5 the Causes of the Magnificencie and Greatness (archive.org). of Cities, Richard Ockould and Henry Tomes, London 1606 (hathitrust.org). GONZÁLEZ DE MENDOZA 1585 JUAN GONZÁLEZ DE MENDOZA, BOXER 1967 Historia de las cosas mas notables, ritos CHARLES R. BOXER, South China in the y costumbres, del gran Reyno dela China, Sixteenth Century, Kraus Reprint, Bartholome Grassi, Rome 1585 Nendeln 1967. (archive.org).

BOXER 1993 GONZÁLEZ DE MENDOZA 1586 CHARLES R. BOXER, The Christian Century JUAN GONZÁLEZ DE MENDOZA, in Japan, Carcanet Press, Manchester 1993. Dell’historia della China, Andrea Muschio, Venice 1586 (archive.org). CAI 2015 CAI DINGYI, “Lun Mingdai de cha GONZÁLEZ DE MENDOZA 1853 37. UKERS 1935, vol. 1, pp. 28-29. guo” (Tea and Fruit in the Ming Dynasty), JUAN GONZÁLEZ DE MENDOZA, The

The Tea Gardens of Dazhangshan 144 International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens 2019 History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom RICCI 2000 Portuguese Descriptions of Japan and the of China and the Situation Thereof, edited MATTEO RICCI, Della entrata della Japanese,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, by GEORGE THOMAS STAUNTON, Compagnia di Giesù e Christianità nella Cina, 22, 2, 2012, pp. 391-438. Hakluyt Society, London 1853 (archive.org). Quodlibet, Macerata 2000. WOOD 1995 HAW 2006 RICCI 2001 FRANCES WOOD, Did Marco Polo STEPHEN G. HAW, Marco Polo’s China. MATTEO RICCI, Lettere (1580-1609), Go to China?, Secker and Warburg, A Venetian in the Realm of Khubilal Khan, Quodlibet, Macerata 2001. London 1995. Routledge, London 2006. RUIZ DE MEDINA 1990 ZANINI 2005 KAMPS 2001 Documentos del Japon 1547-1557, edited LIVIO ZANINI, “Una bevanda cinese IVO KAMPS, “Colonizing the by JUAN RUIZ DE MEDINA, Instituto per il Buddha,” in Caro Maestro… Scritti Colonizers. A dutchman in Asia Historico de la Compania de Jesús, in onore di Lionello Lanciotti, edited by Portuguesa,” in Travel Knowledge: European Rome 1990 (archive.org). TIZIANA LIPPIELLO, MAURIZIO SCARPARI, “Discoveries” in the Early Modern Period, Cafoscarina, Venice 2005, pp. 1271-1283. edited by IVO KAMPS, JYOTSNA G. SING, SOUZA-TURLEY 2016 Palgrave, New York 2001, pp. 160-184. GEORGE BRYAN SOUZA, JEFFREY SCOTT ZANINI 2012 TURLEY, The Boxer Codex. Transcription LIVIO ZANINI, La via del tè. La compagnia MAFFEI 1589 and Translation of an Illustrated Late inglese delle Indie orientali e la Cina, GIOVANNI PIETRO MAFFEI, Le historie Sixteenth-Century Spanish Manuscript Il Portolano, 2012. delle Indie orientali, Damian Zenaro, Concerning the Geography, Ethnography, Venice 1589 (archive.org). History of the Pacific, South-East and East Asia, Brill, Leiden 2016. MEW-ASHTON 1892 JAMES MEW, JOHN ASHTON, Drinks TOLLINI 2001 of the World, Leadenhall Press, ALDO TOLLINI, La cultura del tè in London 1892. Giappone e la ricerca della perfezione, Einaudi, 2014. MICHELI 1924 ADRIANO AUGUSTO MICHELI, “Il Milione UKERS 1935 di Marco Polo e un Cronista del 1300,” WILLIAM H. UKERS, All About Tea, The tea La Geografia, 4, 5, 1924, pp. 153-166. and coffee trade journal company, New York 1935, 2 vols. POLO 1827 MARCO POLO, Il Milione di Marco VAN LINSCHOTEN 1596 Polo, da’ torchi di Giuseppe Pagani, JAN HUYGEN VAN LINSCHOTEN, Itinerario, Florence 1827 (archive.org). voyage ofte schipvaert, van Ian Huygen van Linschoten naer Oost ofte Portugaels Indien, POLO 1845 Cornelis Claesz, Amsterdam 1596 MARCO POLO, The Travels of Marco Polo, (archive.org). edited by HUGH MURRAY, Oliver&Boyd, Edinburgh 1845 (archive.org). VAN LINSCHOTEN 1598 JAN HUYGEN VAN LINSCHOTEN, Iohn RAMUSIO 1559 Huighen van Linschoten. His Discours GIOVANNI BATTISTA RAMUSIO, Delle of Voyages into ye Easte and West Indies, navigationi et viaggi, Giunti, Venice 1559, Iohn Wolfe, London 1598 (archive.org). vol. 2 (digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de). VOGEL 2012 REINAUD 1845 HANS ULRICH VOGEL, Marco Polo Was in JOSEPH-TOUSSAINT REINAUD, Relation des China, Brill, Leiden 2012. voyages faits par les Arabes et les Persans dans l’Inde et à la Chine dans le IXe siècle de l’ère WILLIS 2012 chrétienne, Imprimerie royale, Paris 1845, CLIVE WILLIS, “Captain Jorge Alvares 2 vols (archive.org). and Father Luís Fróis S.J.: Two Early

Livio Zanini, Before the Arrival of Tea in Europe. The Chinese beverage in western sources prior to the 17th century 145 The Tea Gardens of Dazhangshan International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens 2019

30th edition

edited by Patrizia Boschiero, Luigi Latini, Maurizio Paolillo

Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche

Treviso 2019

3 The Tea Gardens of Dazhangshan International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens 2019 published by Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche, with Antiga Edizioni, edited by Patrizia Boschiero, Luigi Latini, Maurizio Paolillo

On the occasion of the 30th International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens, dedicated to the Tea Gardens of Dazhangshan, this dossier is being issued simultaneously in Italian and English editions.

Editorial production: Patrizia Boschiero (coordination), Chiara Condò and Nicoletta Tesser (editing and layout). Proofreading of English texts by Oona Smyth.

Translations from Italian to English: Oona Smyth (Motivation of the Prize, pp. x-y; essays by Maurizio Paolillo, pp. x-y and x-z; Livio Zanini, pp. x-y; Giuseppe Barbera, pp. x-y; Anna-Paola Pola, pp. x-y; Massimo Rossi, pp. x-y). Translations from Italian to Chinese: Antonio Leggieri (Motivation of the Prize, pp. x-y). Translations from Chinese to English: Paul Golf with Alison McFarland, Thomas Staniforth, Qin Tian, Saul Thompson, Shen Yu (essays by Hong Peng, pp. x-y; Chen Xing, pp. x-y; Yu Yue, pp. x-y). Translations from French to English: Traduttori Associati (essay by Hervé Brunon and Maxime Decaudin, pp. x-y). The translations published in the Italian edition of this book are by Antonio Leggieri, Chiara Piaggio, Oona Smyth, Carla Toffolo.

Irene Beringher, Francesca Ghersetti and Massimo Rossi (documentation centre of Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche) also worked with the editors, authors and the publications office on research into and acquisition of bibliographic, cartographic, iconographic and documentary materials.

4 Contents

6 The International Carlo Scarpa 133 Livio Zanini, Prize for Gardens, 1990-2019 Before the Arrival of Tea in Europe. The Chinese beverage in western sources 8 Regulations and Scientific Committee prior to the 17th century

9 The Tea Gardens of Dazhangshan. Statement of the Carlo Scarpa Prize 147 Giuseppe Barbera, in English, Chinese and Italian Anthropocene, Agriculture, and Landscape. Reflections on the margins of a journey in China 23 Maurizio Paolillo, From China to Wuyuan County. 168 Anna-Paola Pola, A historical and geographical overview “The Most Beautiful Village in China”. Heritage, politics, and transformations 41 Maurizio Paolillo, in rural China The Beauty of the Dao. The multiple faces of landscape in the cultural 185 Mónica Luengo, tradition of China Cultural and Heritage Values of the Asian Tea Landscapes in an International Framework

61 Hong Peng, 199 Hervé Brunon, Maxime Decaudin, Poetry and Craftsmanship, a Marriage of For an Ecological History, Elements Reflecting Nature and History. The gardening philosophy from China of Dazhangshan’s Organic Tea Farms 215 Massimo Rossi, 105 Chen Xing, Some Reflections on Cartographic A Home for Tea, a Home for Books Representation in the Chinese Culture

107 Xiao Kunbing, 229 Bibliography Culture, Cultivations and Tea Routes in Ancient China. Historical and 00 Illustration references anthropological aspects 00 List of Authors 119 Yu Yue, Tea, Tea Culture, and the Environment 00 International Carlo Scarpa in China’s Jiangxi Province Prize for Gardens 2019

5