Korean tea culture prospered in the late Shilla Empire and in the Goryeo Dynasty. In the Shilla Empire, tea was enjoyed every day. In the Goryeo Dynasty, tea rituals were performed for national ceremonies and a government office was established to administer this ritual for the Palace. It was called Dabang, the name which we use to refer to cafes today.
The royal office has a position for tea administration and regional tea administrators were established to gather tea for the Palace.
Tea ritual was also performed to greet foreign envoys, appoint princes or the royal prince, and celebrate princesses’ wedding ceremonies. Throughout the Goryeo Dynasty, tea played important roles in social gatherings and national rituals.
Countries with advanced tea culture use quality tools to enjoy tea. As England developed bone china for its tea culture, the Goryeo Dynasty created Goryeo Blue Porcelain as its tea culture developed and popularized with the development of Buddhism. Goryeo’s tea sets were colorful and beautifully shaped to serve tea and contributed to the development of porcelain technology. As the shapes and colors of porcelain varied according to the type of tea, the people of Goryeo eventually developed Goryeo Blue Porcelain, one of the world’s highest quality porcelain even today.
Tea and tea sets are inseparable. Historically, England was able to develop high quality tableware because they created bone china (contains animal bones to be more durable and cleaner) to satisfy the taste of nobility that enjoyed tea. Japan actively recommended tea to purify the body and mind of their warriors and invaded Korea in 1592 to capture many porcelain masters to acquire quality tea sets that they desired.
As Joseon adopted Confucianism, the tea culture of Goryeo quickly fell. Although it was enjoyed by everyone, tea was recognized as 'the symbol of Buddhism' that Joseon began avoiding tea. As most types of tea that remained was leaf tea and lumped tea instead of powder green tea, Blue Porcelain was replaced by simpler gray-inlay porcelain and white porcelain. Also, tea was replaced by wine or pure water in rituals and ceremonies. In the mid-Joseon Dynasty, many Buddhist temples were shut down due to the fall of Buddhism and tea production at Buddhist temples quickly reduced. Nevertheless, the tea customs of Joseon became even more formal than those of Goryeo. They had tea time to drink tea at the designated time every day and have discussions. Unlike English tea time, Korean tea time existed for more than 600 years, but it has disappeared into history, failing to be succeeded to the descendants. Although it is much more than just rests, its good points have been overlooked. The tea culture of Joseon quickly degraded, but Buddhist believers and scholars kept drinking tea. Tea was transmitted by the leading tea-drinkers of Joseon, including Sir Jeong Yak Yong, Sir Kim Jeong Hee, and Zen Priest Choui.
After its prosper in the Goryeo Dynasty, the traditional tea culture of Korea disappeared through the Joseon Dynasty and the Japanese imperial rule over Korea. In 1979, AmorePacific created Korea’s largest tea field in the clean environment of Jeju-do and began supplying quality green tea to revive the traditional tea culture of Korea. Thanks to our efforts, drinking green tea has become a part of our daily activities since the 1990s. Green tea tended to improve in quality around 1997.
AmorePacific began improving the quality of Korea-grown green tea to distinguish it from imported green tea. The know-how we acquired at the tea fields in Jeju and green tea cultivating technologies that we have researched year after year contributed to producing premium quality green tea. Supported by the tenacity and determination of Chairman Suh Sung-hwan to revive Korea’s tea culture, AmorePacific managed to recreate the traditional tea culture of Korea for the past 30 years to share an abundant and beautiful green tea culture with the people of Korea. Today, green tea is an element of culture that you can experience at Jeju o’sulloc Tea Museum or at o’sulloc Tea House.
