Amid the vast ocean of the ancient literatures in the long history of China, the topics of tea as recorded in the authentic annuals, history books, anecdotes and other writings in the form of sketches and notes, laws and regulations, poens and essays, archaeological studies and local records etc. have made a very rich and abundant documentation about tea. All these constitute a treasure of three thousand years for this single thing-tea. Studies and researches show that up to the present moment, apart from a great number of books and articles written after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, there are 563 books and quotations handed down from earlier generations from which their original texts could be seen or the quotations could be traced. Those 563 books and quotations could be divided into three categories:

(1)Books specialized on tea:
In accordance with the catalogue compiled contemporarily there are one hundred books specialized on tea. They started from the Tea Classic to Compilation on Management Disciplining of Anhui Tea written by Cheng Yuting in 1897, spanning more than eleven hundred years. Much to our regret, among the one hundred books listed only 58 now exist. The others were lost.

(2)Sketches and Notes on Tea:
There are 440 items of sketches and notes concerning tea being found as recorded in various comprehensive books and many other literatures which make very rich records depicting the tea activities in various dynasties. The earliest book is Er Ya: On Trees written in about 200 B.C.; and the latest one is the Records about the products and Natural Conditions of Jining (Nanjing) written in the later part of Qing dynasty, spanning more than three thousand years. Between them the famous ones are:
-Working Rules for Servants (Wang Bao, in 59 A.D),
-Records of State Huayang(Chang Ju, in 347 A.D),
-Buddhist Monasteries in Luoyand(Yang Xuanzhi, in c.500),
-Sketches by Fong(Fong Yan,c.800),
-A Peaceful Territory(Yue Shi, c.980),
-Origin of Affairs (Gao Cheng; in 1189),
-Tieweishan Miscellanea(Cai Tao, in 1275),
-Sketches from a Secluded Fisherman at Tiaoxi (Hu Zi, in 1125),
-On Agriculture (Wang Zhen, in 1328),
-Eight Letters from Zunsheng (Gao Lian, in 1582).

(3)Laws and Regulations on Tea:
Starting from Tang Dynasty down to Qing Dynasty laws and regulations of tea were strictly formulated. From the official history books and private family records there have collected 65 kinds of records depicting the laws, policies, tax and duty regulations, tribute, production, monopoly, road check posts, barer trade of tea vs. horse, rectification on laws as well as reports to the emperors on tea submitted by high ranking of-finials etc. All of them reflected the changed in tea production and trade in different times.