TBC Lecture Series – A Journey in the Tea Mountains of Yunnan, China, with Dr. Francis T. Hannafey S.J.
TBC invites leading scholars, thinkers and experts to address an eclectic range of topics related to China in an one-hour format as part of TBC’s Lecture Series. On Wednesday, March 14, 2018, Dr. Francis T. Hannafey S.J. gave a lecture on Pu’er tea to students.
Abstract of Dr. Francis’s talk: “Last summer I was pursuing on-site research for a writing project on Yunnan Puer tea. I was in the Lincang region of southern Yunnan staying with tea farmers and their families while exploring Puer tea growing, harvesting, production, and tasting of this distinctive tea from Yunnan Province. Tea is much more than simply a beverage in Yunnan and in Chinese culture. I continue to learn that in Yunnan (and in other regions of China) tea—and especially Puer tea– is about human communication, relationship, friendship, and personal discovery. This presentation will offer highlights of this journey along with special consideration of the people of Yunnan, the beautiful land, and discussion of the importance of Puer tea in Yunnan and beyond…”
This is the first American edition of Anderson’s fascinating account of Britain’s first diplomatic mission to China in 1792. By the end of the eighteenth century the East India Company had been trading with Chinese merchants for two hundred years, but in a strictly limited way.
At the dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, as the 18th century drew to a close, the Western world was eager for knowledge—driven by a philosophical movement that championed reason and science. King Louis XV of France asked for the advice of his trusted Minister of State, Henri Bertin, about how to reform the spirit of the nation, after giving it some thought, Bertin famously responded, “Sire, to inoculate the French with the Chinese spirit.”