13 贡茶的起源 Origin of Tribute Teas
The origin of tribute teas in Chinese history and society is closely linked to the establishment of the ancient feudal system.Like other tribute items，tribute teas served to uphold the feudal emperors'leadership over regional areas.
According to historical records，tribute tea arose during the reign of the Zhou Dynasty Wu Emperor(周武王)(770 BC—221 BC).Emperor Wu sent his army to attack Zhou(纣)，the last king of the Yin Dynasty(16th to 11th Century BC)，where the troops from the states of the Ba and Shu(巴蜀)assisted King Wu.The two states also provided teas and other items as tribute.
In order to make local teas suitable for tribute，tea makers of all the past dynasties did their utmost to advance the technology of tea processing and in this way constantly improved the quality of tea.Although this development was driven by the need to satisfy the imperial families and the upper classes，the frequent tea exchanges between the court palace and local people enriched the country's tea culture.
Apart from the compulsory tea tribute system，some tea presenters from local areas voluntarily offered teas to emperors in order to make local products better known and more popular.These teas had local character，and the presenters hoped their local teas could gain national fame as tribute teas.
The tea tribute system lasted until the end of the Qing Dynasty.
Notes: 1)regional 地区的 2)suitable 适当的 3)do utmost 竭力，尽全力 4)constantly 经常 5)compulsory 必须做的 6)voluntarily 志愿地
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