On the origin oftea industry in China. Sheng Han Famensi Museum, Fufeng, Shaanxi, 722201 China Summary Tea was mainly used as a drink in the .very beginning and the "developed into an 'industry and even a culture. It is thought that the discovery and use of tea dated back to prehistoric ages and the area was possibly in the primitive nations in Exi. The people there discovered tea when gathering and used it as medicine and food. Later, they developed it into a kind of drink. If tea was really discovered in Exi, the cradle of tea industry and culture should be in Sashu. Shu people lived in northwestern China and Sa people lived in Wuluo Zhong lishan. Later, Shu and Sa people merged together. After the Oin conquered Shu area there appeared the drink culture. Keywords Origin oftea industry, Bashu As well known, at present, tea is one of the worldwide beverages but in the ancient time, tea was known only in China for long time. Origin of drinking, processing and cultivating tea is in China. In Tang Dynasty, Japan and Korea has exchanged with China and sent Buddhist priests. They brought tea drinking habit, tea production and tea culture to their countries. Then, tea spread more to all over the world. Tea that has high culture and healthy benefit is more excellent than the other drinks. There were some opinions in Tang and Sung Dynasty to drink tea in China. One ofthe origins of tea drinking habit was in front of the history and others are in Qin Han, San Guo and Lian Jin. After, the theory about ~e'Liang Jin was denied. Then, we have three theories, about Shi Qian(in front of the history), Shang Zhou and Qin Han. The famous tea master Lu Yu in Tang Dynasty said in hi.s writing "Ch'a Ching" that the Chinese emperor Shen Nong was the ftrst drinker oftea. Zhu Zi Zhen, a famous tea researcher, argued that tea had been 9nmk in front ofthe history according to the Lu Yu's theory. But recently, a scholar argued the opinion that drinking habit of tea began from Qin Dynasty they had conquered Shu based on historical materials written by GuYanWu. Research on variation ofclimate and removal ofpopulation in ancient tea areas including Bashu Jinghu and Ytmgui areas has showed the following conclusions. Firstly, tea seeds that survived the last glacier prospered widely in many parts of southern China at least 5,000 years ago before the Eve of history after years of slow natural spreading. And in "Bashan Xia Chuan", tea became a common plant in mountains and forests. Secondly, tea was mainly used as a drink in the very beginning and then developed into an industry and even a culture. It is thought that the discovery and use of tea dated back to prehistoric ages and the area was possibly in the primitive nations in Exi. The people discovered tea there when gathering and used it as medicine and food. Later, they . developed it into a kind of drink. Thirdly, if tea was really discovered in Exi, the cradle of tea industry and culture should be in Bashu. Bashu was originally tribal names. Shu people lived in northwestern China and Ba people lived in Wuluo Zhong Iishan. Later, Shu people and Ba people merged together, and they, with joint efforts, established the Bashu culture with tea culture as part of it. The saying that " Not until the Qin conquered Shu area did there appeared the drink culture" means that tea, as part ofBashu culture, was spread after the Qin's unification. Session I -12-.