A hawk-eyed resident of Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, was enjoying some tea sipping-in a local tea house-when he spotted a couple of ancient steles buried in a corner. Preliminary research has revealed that one of the stones bears inscriptions by the famous Ming Dynasty calligrapher Dong Qichang. The steles also shed light on the history of one of China's most famous brews.

The stele attributed to calligrapher Dong Qichang bears a clear inscription, but half of the tablet is missing. The other one is more complete, but the inscription has suffered a lot. The only legible words are "Longjing Tea Song", "1894 in the Wanli Reign", and the calligrapher's pen name.

Longjing Tea, known as Dragon Well Tea, is one of China's best. People generally believe that the brew owed its fame to Qing Dynasty Emperor Qianlong who once drank the tea and sang its praises. But Dong Qichang's inscription shows that Longjing Tea was already famous in the Ming Dynasty, more than 400 years ago. The stele also states that the tea was well-known in the Jin Dynasty, which pushes back the popularity of Longjing Tea by several dynasties.

As for the pen name carved on the second stele, research has proved that the author lived close to Siming Mountain in the eastern part of Zhejiang Province. But further study will be required to reveal the author's actual identity.
 
(CCTV February 27, 2004)