Tea if by Sea, Cha if by Land: Why the World Only Has Two Words for Tea
The Portuguese were a network, held together by religion and language, and with better sources of market information in long-distance trades than their purely Asian counterparts.11 Portuguese became the lingua franca of maritime Asia. The very marginality of the Portuguese as an alien maritime subculture helped to make them acceptable to government
... See moreJohn Darwin • After Tamerlane: The Rise and Fall of Global Empires, 1400-2000
But the commodities that circulated in this new global exchange were not staples but luxuries; their volume was tiny. In the sixteenth century, an average of fifty to seventy ships departed annually for the East from Lisbon;123 and the traffic in manufactures like porcelain or textiles flowed mainly westward towards Europe and not the other way rou
... See moreJohn Darwin • After Tamerlane: The Rise and Fall of Global Empires, 1400-2000
There is a subtle charm in the taste of tea which makes it irresistible and capable of idealisation. Western humourists were not slow to mingle the fragrance of their thought with its aroma. It has not the arrogance of wine, the self- consciousness of coffee, nor the simpering innocence of cocoa. Already in 1711, says the Spectator: "I would theref... See more
The Cup of Humanity - Tetragrammaton
The term ‘folk-tale’ implies an adult audience; fairy-tale, a story for children. The distinction is familiar now, but in the past it scarcely existed.