the experience of reading in Britain, from 1450 to 1945...

UK RED is an open-access database housed at The Open University containing over 30,000 easily searchable records documenting the history of reading in Britain from 1450 to 1945. Evidence of reading presented in UK RED is drawn from published and unpublished sources as diverse as diaries, commonplace books, memoirs, sociological surveys, and criminal court and prison records.

The Song dynasty (960-1279) features an amazingly rich tea culture. Tea during this period involves many aspects such as politics, economy, literature and social customs. With the prosperity of the tea industry, everyone – the nobles, scholars, and common people, all had access to tea.

"Every household has seven daily necessities: firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar and tea" Wu Zimu, Song Dynasty Poet

Tea Drinking in Chinese Song Dynasty (960-1279)

In the Tang dynasty,the production,management and sales of tea or the tea culture research, tea processing skills all had progressed greatly, thus tea was also popularized. However, comparatively speaking, the development of tea culture in the Song dynasty had more changes and innovation than the Tang dynasty. For example, the way of tea drinking, the varieties of tea, the literatures of tea and the supervising organizations had all undergone great breakthroughs in the Song era.