Tea in China originated in Bashu, and "tea makers in the south are the best" (Lu Yu Tea Classic). It can be said that tea in China was first bred, produced and developed in the south. According to written records, the earliest record of tea production in Bashu can be traced back to the Warring States period, when Bashu had formed a certain scale tea area, and its tea was one of the tributes. The prominent position of Bashu tea industry in the history of tea industry in China can only be recorded in Children's Covenant written by Wang Bao, the emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, which contains "Make all the tea" and "Buy tea in Wuyang", reflecting the prevalence of tea drinking in Chengdu at that time and the commercialization of special tea sets and tea. With the unification of China in Qin and Han Dynasties and the strengthening of economic and cultural exchanges, tea first spread to the East and South. During the Three Kingdoms period, Wu Dong occupied a part of Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan and Guangxi, and all the land in the southeast half of Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang. These areas are the main areas for the spread and development of tea, and drinking tea has also spread to the northern nobles. During the Western Jin Dynasty, tea began to spread in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and Central China. At that time, the Picture of Jinghu Lake said: "The seven counties in Wuling have the best tea", indicating that the middle reaches of the Yangtze River have gradually replaced Bashu. When the Western Jin Dynasty crossed the river to the south, the northern nobles crossed the river to Jiankang (now Nanjing, Jiangsu Province), which was the Eastern Jin Dynasty in history. Jiankang became the political center of southern China. Due to the worship of tea by the upper class, the development of tea in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the southeast coastal areas has been further promoted, and tea drinking and tea culture have also developed greatly. During this period, Zhejiang tea has spread from western Zhejiang to Ningbo, Wenzhou and coastal areas. "Lu Tongjun" contains: "Xiyang, Wuchang and Jinling all produce good tea". Jinling is Changzhou, Jiangsu, and its good tea comes from Yixing. This shows that after the Three Kingdoms and the Jin Dynasty, the focus of tea industry moved eastward. From the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Middle Tang Dynasty, the production and drinking of tea in the south developed further, while in the north, loving tea became a custom. As recorded in the chef's manual, "Kansai, Shantung and Lv Yan villages all eat today, and if they don't eat for a few days, there will be no tea to eat." After the middle Tang Dynasty, both tea production and tea-making technology reached the highest level in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. It can be said that in the Tang Dynasty, especially after the mid-Tang Dynasty, China Tea Technology Center was officially transferred to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and Jiangzhe Tea was the most famous. For example, the ancient bamboo and purple bamboo shoot tea in Huzhou and Yangxian tea in Changzhou became tribute tea. The Tang government set up tribute tea in Jiangnan, which greatly promoted the improvement of tea-making technology in Jiangnan and also promoted the development of tea-making areas throughout the country. According to Lu Yu's Tea Classic and related documents, the tea-producing areas at that time were all over Yunnan, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Hubei, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Guangxi, Fujian, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan and other regions. Compared with modern tea-producing areas in China,
From the Five Dynasties to the early Song Dynasty, because the national climate changed from warm to cold, the early spring tea tree germination in the south of the Yangtze River was delayed due to the temperature drop, and it was impossible to ensure that the tea was sent to Kyoto before Tomb-Sweeping Day, which led to the rapid development of tea industry in the south than in the north. As Ouyang Xiu said, "Jian 'an is a thousand miles away in March, and Shi Jing is tea in March", the south began to gradually replace the tea areas in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and became the focus of the tea industry in the Song Dynasty, which was manifested in the change of tribute tea from purple bamboo shoot tea in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province to.
From the above, it can be seen that the tea industry in China has spread all over the country in the Song Dynasty, which is in line with the scope of modern tea areas. Later, especially in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the development of tea industry in China was only the evolution of tea varieties and tea-making technology.