What did Lu Yu’s Classic of Tea say about the land of Giao? One sentence, quoted from an older herbal: in Giao and Guang, a tea-like drink “is valued most; when guests arrive it is served first, with fragrant herbs added”. Giao, the old Jiaozhou, included northern Vietnam. The line does not prove that Vietnamese people drank tea in Lu Yu’s time, because the plant it describes only resembles tea. But it is one of the earliest written pictures of a custom that still defines Vietnamese hospitality: a hot leaf drink offered to every visitor. Here is the passage, what it says, and what it does not.
The passage in full
In the seventh chapter of the Classic of Tea (茶經), “Records” (七之事), Lu Yu quotes the Tongjun Lu (桐君錄), an older pharmacological text:
又南方有瓜蘆木，亦似茗，至苦澀，取爲屑茶飲……煮鹽人但資此飲，而交廣最重，客來先設，乃加以香芼輩。
In plain English: “In the south there is also the gualu tree, which resembles tea and is very bitter and astringent; people grind it and drink it as tea… Salt boilers rely on this drink, and in Giao and Guang it is valued most: when guests arrive it is served first, with fragrant herbs added.”
| Phrase | Meaning | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 瓜蘆木 (gualu tree) | A tree whose leaf is used like tea | Lu Yu’s first chapter says the tea tree itself looks “like the gualu”, so the two were seen as close |
| 亦似茗 (also resembles tea) | Not identical to tea | The text does not claim it is the tea plant |
| 交廣 (Giao and Guang) | Jiaozhou and Guangzhou, southern regions of the time | Jiaozhou included northern Vietnam but was larger than today’s Vietnam |
| 客來先設 (served first to guests) | Offered as soon as visitors arrive | A hospitality custom, not a trade record |
| 香芼 (fragrant herbs) | Aromatic plants added to the drink | An early form of flavouring a leaf drink |
What the passage tells us
First, that by the time Lu Yu wrote in the 8th century, Chinese writers already linked the far south, including the Red River region, with a strong habit of drinking a bitter leaf infusion. Second, that it was a drink of hospitality: served first, before anything else, when guests arrived. Third, that people in the south added aromatic herbs to it. None of this is surprising to anyone who has visited a Vietnamese home, where a pot of tea is the first thing put on the table, and where tea scented with lotus, jasmine or other flowers is a centuries-old craft.
What the passage does not tell us
- It is not proof of tea in Vietnam. The plant described “resembles tea”. It may have been a related tree or a different leaf used in the same way.
- Giao is not the same as Vietnam. The old Jiaozhou covered northern Vietnam and parts of what is now southern China, and its borders changed over the centuries.
- It does not use the names Annam or Jiaozhi. We searched the full text: the only reference is the two-character pair 交廣.
- It does not describe trade. The text says nothing about tea being sent north from Giao.
From Giao to today’s Vietnamese tea table
Later Vietnamese sources take up the thread. Around 1335, the chronicle An Nam Chi Luoc described families laying out tea and wine for their ancestors on New Year’s Eve. Vietnamese scholars from the 15th to the 19th century recorded local tea hills and the habit of drinking fresh green tea, and the Nguyen dynasty’s gazetteer praised the tea of Phu Luong in Thai Nguyen. Today, Vietnamese newspapers still describe a cup of tea as “the start of a conversation” and an indispensable part of weddings, anniversaries and New Year. We trace this history in how long Vietnam has been drinking tea.
Why this matters for a tea buyer in China
For Chinese buyers, the passage is a reminder that tea cultures on both sides of the border share old roots, and that the Vietnamese habit of serving tea to every guest is not a recent fashion. Vietnam’s tea is grown, roasted and drunk in a tradition that Chinese readers will recognise, while still being different in cultivar, roasting and taste. Our article on Vietnamese green tea vs Chinese green tea compares the two styles in the cup.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Classic of Tea mention Vietnam?
Not by name. It mentions Giao (交), the Jiaozhou region, which included northern Vietnam, in a sentence about a tea-like drink served to guests.
What is gualu?
A tree whose leaves were used like tea. Lu Yu writes that the tea tree looks like the gualu, and the older text says gualu “resembles tea”. Its exact botanical identity is debated, so we do not name a species.
When was the Classic of Tea written?
In the 8th century, during the Tang dynasty. The passage about Giao and Guang is quoted from an older text, the Tongjun Lu.
Is serving tea to guests still a Vietnamese custom?
Yes. A pot of tea is still the first thing offered to visitors in most Vietnamese homes and offices, and tea is part of wedding, ancestral and New Year rituals.
Sources
- Lu Yu, Classic of Tea (茶經), chapters 1 and 7, Project Gutenberg edition: gutenberg.org
- Le Tac, An Nam Chi Luoc, Vietnamese translation, Hue University 1961 (digital edition 2001): quangduc.com
- VTC News, Vietnamese tea culture, 22 January 2023: vtcnews.vn
- SGGP, the place of tea in Vietnamese rituals, 11 February 2021: sggp.org.vn
- Báo Nông nghiệp và Môi trường, the Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi on Phu Luong tea, 9 September 2025: nongnghiepmoitruong.vn
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