– Bilingual Lyrics Chinese/English

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

After wandering in the forest all day looking for edible grains and herbs

the exhausted Shen Nong had been poisoned 72 times.

But just before he died from the poison,

a leaf drifted into his mouth.

He chewed the leaf and regained his strength.

This was the process of discovering tea.

At least, that's how the ancient myth tells it.

Actually, tea doesn't detoxify,

but Shen Nong as the inventor of Chinese agriculture

but Shen Nong as the inventor of Chinese agriculture

highlights the importance of tea in ancient China.

Archaeological evidence shows that tea was first cultivated in China

about 6,000 years ago,

1,500 years before the pharaohs built the pyramids.

The early Chinese tea crop

was the same as the tea plants now widespread worldwide.

But the way it was consumed was very different from today.

It was initially eaten as a vegetable or used to make porridge.

It transitioned from food to drink about 1,500 years ago,

when people realized that heating and steam

could bring out complex and varied flavors from the leaves.

Over hundreds of years, tea-making methods evolved

into the standard process we know today, including heating the leaves,

pressing them into portable tea cakes,

grinding them into powder,

infusing them in hot water,

Thus producing matcha.

Matcha became hugely popular, giving rise to a unique Chinese tea culture.

Tea became the subject of poetry and books,

the emperor's favorite drink,

and a medium for artists' creations.

They could paint in the foam of the tea water,

much like how people today draw on steamed coffee in cafes.

In the 9th century, during the Tang Dynasty,

a Japanese monk brought the first tea plant to Japan.

The Japanese eventually developed their own unique tea-drinking habits,

leading to the creation of tea ceremony.

In the 14th century, during the Ming Dynasty,

Chinese emperors changed the method of making tea cakes

to loose tea leaves.

At that time, China still monopolized all the world's tea plants.

Tea plants, along with porcelain and silk,

formed the three major export commodities of China.

This brought China strong power and economic influence.

Because by then, the habit of drinking tea had spread worldwide.

This trend peaked in the 1600s.

During this period, Dutch merchants brought tea to Europe in large quantities.

Many believe that Catherine of Braganza, the noble queen of Portugal,

married King Charles II of England in 1661,

thereby introducing tea to the British aristocracy.

England at the time was expanding its colonies

and gradually becoming a world leader.

As England grew stronger, interest in tea spread globally.

On European markets in 1700, tea already cost ten times that of coffee.

But tea plants still only grew in China.

The tea trade seemed so appealing

that the world's fastest sailing ships

were born from fierce competition between Western trading companies.

These ships rushed tea back to Europe,

maximizing the companies' profits.

At first, Britain paid for tea with silver coins.

When that became too expensive,

they proposed trading opium instead.

This caused public health problems in China,

with people becoming addicted to opium.

By 1839, a Chinese official ordered

the destruction of large amounts of Britain's imported opium.

This was seen as a challenge to Britain's influence on China.

This act sparked the First Opium War between the two nations.

The conflict raged along China's coasts until 1842,

when the Qing government was defeated, ceding Hong Kong Island to Britain

and accepting unequal trade terms.

This war weakened China's global position for a century.

The British East India Company also wanted to grow tea plants

and further control the tea market.

So they sent the botanist Robert Fortune

on a secret mission to China to steal tea.

He disguised himself and embarked on this dangerous journey.

He traveled through China's tea-growing mountains,

smuggling out tea plants and experienced tea workers,

taking them to Darjeeling in India.

Through this, tea plants spread widely,

leading to tea becoming a popular everyday beverage.

Today, tea consumption ranks second only to water worldwide,

from sweet Turkish black tea

to salty Tibetan butter tea,

with so many ways to prepare tea

that they rival the number of cultures around the world.

[Chinese]

在森林里转了一整天寻找可吃的谷物和草药

疲惫的神农已经中毒了72次。

但就在他毒发身亡之前，

一片叶子飘落进他的嘴中。

他嚼了嚼树叶，又恢复了活力

这就是发现茶叶的过程

至少古代神话故事是这样讲述的。

茶叶其实并不能解毒，

但是神农作为中国农业的发明者

但是神农作为中国农业的发明者

突出了茶在古代中国的重要性

考古证据显示茶最早培育在中国

距今有6000年左右，

比法老修建金字塔早了1500年。

早先的中国茶作物

与现在遍及全球的茶树一致

但食用它的方法与现在却大不相同

它最早作为蔬菜食用或用来煮粥

它从食品变为饮品是在1500年前，

那时的人们意识到加热和水汽

可以使这种树叶产生出复杂而多变的口感

制茶方式经过了几百年的演化

形成了现在的标准流程，包括加热茶叶，

压制成便携的茶饼，

磨成粉末

冲入热水，

由此便得到了末茶

末茶风靡一时，独特的中国茶文化也由此产生。

茶变成了诗歌和书籍的主题，

成为了皇帝最爱的饮料，

也是艺术家创作的载体

他们能够在茶水泡沫中作画

与现在咖啡店在蒸馏咖啡上作画十分相似

在9世纪，唐朝时期

一位日本和尚将第一柱茶作物带到日本

日本人最终形成了自己独特的品茶习惯

从而产生了茶道

在14世纪，明朝时期

中国的皇帝将制作茶饼这种方式

转变为分散的茶叶

此时，中国仍然独占着世界上全部的茶树

茶树，与陶瓷和丝绸

共同作为中国出口的三大商品

这给中国带来了强大的权力和经济影响力

因为此时喝茶这一习俗已遍及全球

这股风潮在1600年代达到最盛

在此期间，荷兰商人将茶大量带到欧洲

很多人认为葡萄牙尊贵的女王凯瑟琳皇后

在1661年嫁给英国国王查尔斯二世

从而使英国贵族阶层爱上了茶

当时的英国正在扩张殖民地，

并日渐成为世界的领导力量

随着英国的壮大，对茶的兴趣遍及世界

1700年的欧洲市场上， 茶的价格已经达到了咖啡的十倍

但此时茶树仍然只在中国生长

茶叶贸易看起来如此诱人

世界上最快的帆船

就因西方贸易公司之间的激烈竞争而诞生

这些船只飞速地将茶叶带回欧洲

从而最大化公司的利润

起初，英国用银币支付茶叶

当这变得过于昂贵时，

他们提出用鸦片进行交换

这引发了中国的公共健康问题

人们吸食鸦片成瘾。

到了1839年，一位中国官员下令

销毁了大量英国运来的鸦片

这被视为对抗英国对中国施加的影响

这一行为触发了两国之间第一次鸦片战争

斗争在中国沿岸此起彼伏，直到1842年

清政府战败，割让香港岛给英国

并接受贸易不平等条款

这场战争削弱了中国的全球地位长达一个世纪。

英国的东印度公司也想要种植茶作物，

并进一步控制茶市场

因此他们委派植物学家Robert Fortune

秘密行动前往中国偷取茶叶

他伪装自己，开始了这段危险的旅程

他经过中国种植茶的山区

偷运出了茶树以及有经验的制茶工人

将他们带到印度大吉岭。

经由此，茶树广泛传播

促进了茶叶迅速普及成为了日常饮品

现在，茶的饮用量仅次于水位于世界第二，

从甜味的土耳其黑茶

到咸味的西藏酥油茶

茶的制作方法如此之多

有如世界上不同文化的数量

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
tea /tiː/ A1	noun - a hot drink made by infusing the dried leaves of an evergreen shrub
discover /dɪˈskʌvər/ B1	verb - to find something new or unfamiliar
China /ˈtʃaɪnə/ A1	noun - a country in East Asia
opium /ˈəʊpiəm/ C2	noun - a drug made from the dried juice of a poppy plant, used for medical and recreational purposes
war /wɔːr/ B1	noun - a state of armed conflict between different countries or groups
Britain /ˈbrɪtn/ A1	noun - a country in Western Europe consisting of England, Scotland, and Wales
Europe /ˈjʊərəp/ A1	noun - a continent in the Northern Hemisphere
culture /ˈkʌltʃər/ B1	noun - the ideas, customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society
trade /treɪd/ B1	noun - the activity of buying and selling goods and services verb - to exchange goods or services
monopoly /məˈnɒpəli/ C1	noun - a situation in which a single company controls the supply of a particular product or service
plant /plɑːnt/ A2	noun - a living thing that grows in the ground verb - to put a seed in the ground to grow
leaf /liːf/ A2	noun - a part of a plant that is flat and green
poison /ˈpɔɪzn/ B1	noun - a substance that can cause illness or death verb - to give someone or something a poison
recover /rɪˈkʌvər/ B2	verb - to get better after being sick or hurt
myth /mɪθ/ B2	noun - a story from ancient times, often involving gods or heroes
evidence /ˈevɪdəns/ B2	noun - facts or information that prove something
pyramid /ˈpɪrəmɪd/ B1	noun - a structure with a square base and triangular sides
crop /krɒp/ B2	noun - a plant that is grown for food
vegetable /ˈvedʒtəbl/ A1	noun - a plant or part of a plant used as food
taste /teɪst/ B1	noun - the flavor of something verb - to perceive the flavor of something

Key Grammar Structures

• 在森林里转了一整天寻找可吃的谷物和草药

  ➔ Verb + 了 + duration/time indicator + sentence structure

  ➔ The particle "了" indicates completed action or a change of state, often combined with time durations like "一整天" (the whole day).

• 疲惫的神农已经中毒了72次。

  ➔ Adjective + 的 + noun + 已经 + verb + 了 + object/time

  ➔ "已经" indicates an action or state that has been completed or has occurred up to now.

• 他嚼了嚼树叶，又恢复了活力

  ➔ Repeated verb + 了 + resulting action or change

  ➔ Using a repeated verb + 了 emphasizes the action was performed again or persisted, leading to a change, like regaining energy.

• 考古证据显示茶最早培育在中国

  ➔ 显示 + noun phrase + 在 + location

  ➔ "显示" signals that evidence or data makes something clear or apparent, with "在中国" indicating the location of the cultivation.

• 从食品变为饮品是在1500年前

  ➔ 从 + noun + 变为 + noun + 是 + time indicator

  ➔ "从...变为" indicates a transformation or change from one state or category to another, with "是在1500年前" specifying when this change occurred.

• 制茶方式经过了几百年的演化

  ➔ 经过 + duration + 的 + noun, indicating a process of evolution over time

  ➔ "经过" signifies the passage of time during which evolution or development occurs, emphasizing the process over a period.