Asian Art and History

Lecture

Asian Art and History For All the Tea in China U.S. Tea Trade and Consumption in the Long 19th Century

Dan Du, Ph.D., Professor of Chinese History, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

This talk highlights the pivotal U.S.-China tea trade following the American Revolution. After the first U.S. ship, Empress of China, initiated the American-Chinese trade in 1784, U.S. traders grew to be the second-largest importer of tea from China. Moreover, unlike their English cousins and colonial ancestors who preferred black tea, Americans dominated the trade and consumption of green tea, particularly Young Hyson and Oolong tea. U.S. traders also created a new denomination, “English Breakfast Tea,” to name the high-rank black tea from China. The brand would evolve into a blend of Chinese black tea with Indian, Sri Lankan or African products in the 20th century. American consumers’ taste for Chinese teas thus reflects the significance of the U.S.-China trade to American tea culture.

This presentation is part of the Asian Art and History series.

Image: The Production of Tea 1790-1800, Guangzhou, China, c. 1800. Oil on canvas. Peabody Essex Museum.

Dan Du

Dan Du

Dan Du, Ph.D., is an associate professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her research focuses on 19th-century East Asia and the United States, with particular interest in transnational commerce, financial institutions and cross-cultural exchange. She is currently completing a book on the Chinese-American tea trade in the 19th century.