The development of the .tea industry in the period of Wudaishiguo. Masaaki Mizuno Homeikai, 4-15-15-3F-A Nakamuraku meieki Nagoya-shi, Aichi, 450-0002, Japan Summary In the latter half of the Tang( 18 ) period, the habit of tea drinking was being so much popularized all over the country. As Sichuan( rm JII ) and Middle China( ¥ rp ) which are to the south of Huaihe( Tft 1"1 ) were blessed with natural conditions good for tea growing while North China( ¥ ~t ) was climatically unsuitable for it, a great deal of tea was carried into the latter region by merchants who came around all the way from the former regions. Thus, in these regions the tea-industry with the market of North China began developing. In the period of Wudaishiguo( _-li ~ -t-. 00 ) when th~ country was divided into a number of states, each state adopted a protectionist economic policy to promote and encourage the production of its indigenous specialties. Four in particular - Qianshu( ttr Jij ) in Sichuan( 1m JII ), Chu( ~ ) in Hunan( ml ffl ), Nantang( Wi 18 ) in Jiangxi( IT (l§ ) which was to annex Fujian( mIt ) later, Wuyue( ~ ~ ) in Zhejiang( iJfi IT )-, of the ten states in Middle and South China( -.m), made remarkable progress in the tea-industry under the protection and encouragement of the governments, exporting tea to profitable markets in North China. The author tries in this essay to have a view of the tea-industy throughout the country in . this period. Keyword Wudaishiguo, Sichuan and Middle China, tea-industry, tea-trade, tea-culture Introduction The period of Wudaishiguo( 1i~-t- 00 ) was in chaotic state wi~h warlords rampant. Therefore, the fact has often been emphasized that china was then politically divided. Meanwhile, however, the country normally developed both economically and socially. Moreover, the Tang( /B ) dynasty's high-level culture spread over the country. The habit of tea drinking had begun taking root among the common people and even extending to foreign peoples in the latter half of the Tang period. Thus, a huge tea market appeared in North China. In the South, on the other hand, the war damage done to the Shiguo( +ffiI ), located to the south of Qinling( .tit )and Huaihe( TftifiJ ), was not so serious, and in some of the states, . not only the tea-industry remarkably prospered with the help of the policy adopted by the governments of encouraging the production of their indigenous specialties, but tea culture was also increasingly refined. Materials and Methods Among research materials of the Tang period is Chajing( r~RJ ), a special work on tea written by Lu Yu( ~ 5f] ) for the first time in the world, and in the chapters of the economic history( -tt~i&: ) in Jiufangshu( rrfl/B.J ) and Xinfangshu( rffi18.J ) is to be found some sizable amount of material on Chafa( ~i!; ), the monopoly law on the sale of tea. Much -15- Session I research has ever been vigorously made on these materials. A large amount of material on Chafa of the Song( *)period has been passed down to the present. Since Tomi Saeki's great work of i.f)odai chaho kenkyushiryo( r*~~~UJf~fi*4J ) was published, many researchers have produced, on the basis of his study, a lot of achievements on Chafa. By contrast, with respect to the Wudaishiguo period, there remain few complete materials. Under the circumstances there was no choice for the author but to use some accounts in such ancient works on tea as Mao Wenxi( ~)(. )'s Chapu( r~mJ ) some parts of which were scattered and lost and Mingchuan men( ~- §4 r, )in Tao Gu( IJfifJIt )'s Qingyi lu( rm _.J ), collect as many fragmentary materials as possible, such as those in Zizhi tongjian ( rfirf1)iSJ ) and ~f)higllo Chunqiu ( f-t ~ ~fkJ ), and reason the regional development of tea industry by using materials of its neigboring periods. The author can find some new facts through the materials and methods, the habit of tea drinking took root among the commoners under the rules of the Zhongyuan( rp JJj{ ) dynasties in North China and even extended to foreigu peoples such as Qidan( ~f} land Dangxiang ( JtJR ). Tea merchants from Jiangnan( IT Wi ) played an active part in these developments. Tea dealers from Shanxi( ~~ ) carring Jieyan( ftif.J1\ ) into Sichuang( lmJ11 ) actively tried to buy tea there, Some records show that tea was sent to Fengxiang( _~ ) in Qi( Ifrt ) from QianShu( ntr Jij ), and others that there were large-scale tea gardens in QianShu and Houshu ( ~ lj ). Jiangling( IT ~ ), the capital of Jingnan( 1fIJ Wi ) which maintained its independence as a buffer state was a big trading center of tea goods, where grand merchants fromHebei( tnJ ~t ) came to buy. Ma Yin( ,~~ ) of Chu( ~ ), who was requested by Gao Yu( ~ti~ )to develope it into a state on the basis of the tea industry,successfully made the Hebei and Henan ( inJ JVI ) one of the largest markets while promoting the development of the domestic tea industry. Wu( ~ ), established by Yang Xingmi( m~TWf ), which managed to sell tea goods ~ J~ to the Zhongyuan dynasties, came into confrontation with Zhu Quanzhong( * ), because the latter plundered the former of them. Nantang( Wi m), which succeeded Wu, began the production of tea as a tributs after conquering Jianzhou( }t1+1 ) of Fujian( m}t ). Wuyue( ~ ~ ) shipped out tea goods to Qingzhou( ri 1+( ) of Shandong~ llJ. ) by sea, where it bought clothes. Producing and offering tea as a tribute had started in Jianzhou of Min( ~ ) before Jianzhou wa sannexed by Nantang. It is well known that an account about the way of cultivating tea in Wudai at the end of Ta ng can be seen under the article of Zhongcha( fI~ ) in Han'E( ~.~ )'s Sishizuanyao( r(lY~ I": ~ J ), an important book as a piece of material on agricultural technology. Result and Discussion Despite the lack of complete materials on tea of the Wudaishiguo( Iift+ 00 ) period, it can be said on the basis of the fragmentary materials mentioned adove that it was a nation widely growing period of the tea industry, that in Wang( 1: )'QianShu, Ma( ,~ )'Chu, Li( $ ) 'NanTang, Qian( ~ )'Wuyue of Shiguo, the industry developed remarkably under the govenlments' policies of the protection and encouragement, the foundation being thus formed upon which the tea industry was to be established as one of the chinese key industries, and that the sale of tea goods spread as far as to Qidan( ~f} land Dangxiang( JtlJ{ ) as well as to the Zhongyuan( tp '* )dynasties in North China through the vigorous activities of tea dealers. That they played an active role both in the merchandise distribution and in the extention of the habit of tea drinking to the foreign peoples would soon in the BeiSong( ~t* ) period lead to the execution by the hands of merchants of the government~-I!olicy-of Session I -16- supplying provisions for the troops stationed on the northern frontiers and of its tea-horse trade policy. -17- Session I.