Source notes · Edition 001

History deserves
receipts.

The historical claims in The Blueprint are supported by primary texts and institutional sources. Every source below is linked in full.

01
Tang dynasty · c. 760 to 780

Lu Yu

Cha Jing / The Classic of Tea

Describes powdered tea among the forms of tea known in Tang China.

02
Northern Song · 1107

Emperor Huizong

The imperial account of Song powdered-tea practice: grinding, sifting, water and whisking.

03
Southern Song · 12th to 13th c.

Cleveland Museum of Art

Supports the relationship between tea powder, whisking, foam and the dark Jian bowl.

04
Transmission · 1191

Five College Center for East Asian Studies

Supports the 1191 Eisai reference: tea leaves, seeds, utensils and tea-drinking customs carried from Song China to Japan.

05
Japanese development · 16th c. onward

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan

Documents the development of covered cultivation in Uji alongside tea-ceremony culture and the tencha-based production method used to make matcha.

06
Present day · 2025

Xinhua

Supports present-day Chinese matcha production, processing and export.

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