Tea Museum of Korea

• According to an official historical Boseong County record, tea was cultivated and processed as a beverage for the first time when Boghol-gun was merged with Mahan county of the Baekjae dynasty (King Geuncho, about 369 BC).
• Monks of the Daewon Buddhist temple first cultivated a tea plantation in Mundeog-myeon, Boseong-gun around 494 BC during the reign of King Dongseong of the Baekjae dynasty. Tea trees are still cultivated on the original tea plantation fields to this day.
• Wongjeom Daso (located in the Woongchi area) has been cultivated from the middle of the Korea dynasty to the early Chosen dynasty. Tea is described as a native product of the Sangyang-ji area (recorded in February 741: Seungjeong-giwon-whujae-sinu) - Tea was produced long before 1478 (tea, nutmeg nut, ramie, rush, etc).
• Togongji in Sejong-Shilrok-Jiriji (geographic description in the official records of King Sejong) - 34 areas of production (6 areas in Gyeongsang Province, 28 areas in Jeolla Province (including Boseong)
• Native products were recorded (tea, hemp, cotton, ramie fabric, rice, barley, beans) in the Boseong-gun chapter (Volume 40, Page 705) of the Dongguk-yeoji-seunglam (Year 1478). - Myeong-Bae Kim, Tea, History of Korean Tea, Part 4, Chapter 2, Area of Tea Production (Hak-Moon Sa)
• An inscription can be seen on a Boseong Pagoda several hundred years old: "Hometown of Tea, Boseong"
- For hundreds of years tea was presented to the King and even accepted as an alternative for paying taxes in lieu of coin or bullion.
• Extended cultivation since 1960: History of Boseong County (1995) - Restoration of tea culture and Boseong (Chapter 5)

Year 1939

A tea plantation planted for the first time in Korea - 30ha (Kyeongseong Chemical Ltd) : Background: The top soil is deep and water drains well. Since Boseong has fertile soil with gravel and is situated where continental and oceanic climates converge, a mist is created in the mornings that creates a natural shade. Green tea produced in Boseong possesses the best aroma and distinctive flavors. Because of such optimal geographical and climatic conditions, as well as an historical tradition, large-sized tea tree communities have naturally formed in Boseong. Japanese tea specialists have recognized Boseong as the best place to produce tea.

Year 1946~1973

Development of 590ha as a special income project for farming and fishing villages (nationwide 800ha)

Year 1957

Bought and managed Daehan Tea Industry Co. Ltd, (Yeong-Seop Jang)

Year 1965

50ha by Daehan Tea Industry, 30ha by Mong-Jung San (Orient) Tea Plantation

Year 1969

Subsidized cultivation and planting as a special income project for farming and fishing villages.

The 1970s

Demand for tea decreased from the second half of the 1970s. Frost damage forced the closure of some tea plantations and the size of cultivated land eventually decreased to 241ha.

Year 1973

Extended area of cultivation to 590ha as part of a special income project for farming and fishing villages (The size of the tea plantations in Boseong accounted for 74% of the total of tea plantations nationwide, 800ha.)

Year 1975

Daehan Tea Industry acquired permission for tea processing.

Year 1982

Jagseol Garden (Chan-Sik Seo – organized a meeting of tea tree cultivators and producers)

Year 1985

The 1st Boseong Tea Hometown Festival (organized tea tree cultivators meeting)

Year 1990

Farmers started cultivating tea trees and produced tea products.

Year 1996

Boseong County established “10-year plan for county-wide tea tree cultivation” as a special project.

Year 2004

Carried out the “263 plantations, 95ha project” (Project Cost: 2.83 million KRW). The size of cultivated land reached 646.3ha comprising 537 plantations.

Year 2007

1,363 plantations cultivate green tea on 1,148.7ha.