Tea is processed from the young leaves of plants from the genus Camellia, family Theaceae. In China, tea has gone through stages of medicinal, culinary, and beverage use, and currently, medicinal, culinary, and beverage uses coexist.
In recent years, with increased public interest in health, the pharmacological effects and health benefits of tea have received significant attention. Researchers like Xi Xi have conducted a literature review of traditional Chinese herbal medicine texts (ancient books on Chinese Herbs) and formularies (works dedicated to recording or discussing prescriptions; prescriptions refer to formulas for treating illnesses) related to tea. They have analyzed the recorded efficacies of tea, referencing knowledge from tea science and agronomy.
☆ Analytical Methodology
A literature search method was used, with keywords such as “tea,” “ming” (an ancient term for tea), “tu” (an archaic name for tea), and “[mu tu]” (another variant name) to search collected texts on herbal medicine, formularies, and tea-specific monographs.
☆ Primary References
(1) Herbal Medicine Texts: Primarily referenced are the herbal monographs compiled in “The Complete Book of Chinese Herbs” from various dynasties, ethnobotanical texts, and foreign herbal works. Additionally, references were made to formularies, medical texts, local histories, agricultural texts, encyclopedic texts, and the herbal sections of Buddhist and Taoist texts.
(2) Formularies: Primarily selected for reference were “Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold Pieces in Times of Emergency,” “Supplement to Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold Pieces,” “Secret Essentials from the Imperial Academy,” “Formulas for Universal Benevolence,” “Formulas of the Bureau of Medicine,” “Comprehensive Record of Holy Remedies,” “Universal Prescriptions for Primary Treatments,” and “Medical Mirror.”
(3) Tea Monographs: Referenced were the 114 tea monographs from the Tang Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty included in “The Complete Collection of Chinese Tea Books with Annotations” and “Integrated Collection of Ancient Chinese Tea Books.”
☆ Efficacies of Tea
The earliest herbal monograph to record the efficacy of tea is “Compendium of Materia Medica” by Tao Hongjing from the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The first book to list tea separately and record its efficacy is “Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold Pieces in Times of Emergency” by Sun Simiao from the Tang Dynasty. A total of 129 herbal texts from the Tang to the Qing Dynasties recorded the efficacies of tea, with the most common being quenching thirst (100 mentions), aiding digestion (95 mentions), expectorant (93 mentions), heat-clearing (93 mentions), clearing the head and eyes (82 mentions), promoting urination (80 mentions), refreshing (78 mentions), descending qi (74 mentions), and treating fistulas and ulcers (60 mentions).
☆ Application of Tea in Prescriptions
A total of 1,018 prescriptions containing tea were collected from the eight formularies mentioned above. These include 130 prescriptions using tea as a primary ingredient (16 single-ingredient tea prescriptions and 114 compound prescriptions containing tea) and 888 prescriptions where tea is used as a vehicle for administration. The diseases treated by these tea-containing prescriptions encompass 119 types, with the most common being headache (139 prescriptions, 13.65%), eye diseases (130 prescriptions, 12.77%), skin sores and abscesses (61 prescriptions, 5.99%), and dysentery (48 prescriptions, 4.72%).
Summary
As an item that can be used both as food and medicine, primarily consumed as a beverage. The rise of Tea drinking and its development into a popular habit are closely related to its “refreshing” effect and distinctive flavor. In addition, Drinking Tea has other benefits such as quenching thirst, aiding digestion, expectorant properties, heat-clearing, clearing the head and eyes, promoting urination, and so on. Minority groups, whose diets tend to be rich and fatty, often consume tea to aid digestion and metabolize fat.
Furthermore, the author notes that the direct medicinal role of tea is not prominent. The amount of tea used in prescriptions containing tea is generally small, and many of them are “prescriptions taken with tea.” The most common diseases treated are headache, eye diseases, skin sores, and dysentery.
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