Tea maintained its position throughout this whole period as China\u27s largest single export item. Adulterated tea expanded with the development of the overseas Chinese tea market, especially green tea. It was the British East India Company that monopolized the sales channel of Chinese green tea after the 17th century. From the beginning of green tea\u27s introduction into the British market in the 17th century, green tea was liable to adulteration because of its high price, and expansion of the consumer market that increased demand for green teas, as well as free trade, which encouraged the adulteration of tea products as this increased profits. British venture merchants focused on the tea trade from the 1840\u27s, and at the time when the Yangtze River was opened to foreigners in 1860, British import duty on tea was reduced. The quantities of tea export began to rise immediately after the opening of the Yangtze in 1860. The reductions in import duty more fully reflected in the selling prices of tea in Britain; a large number of tea merchants also entered at the same time as prosperity from the tea trade in Britain brought huge profits. The rising trend of tea exports from China and its declining prices together determined the aggregate value of China\u27s tea exports. In the prosperous 1860s, the fall in prices was more than offset by the increase in the quantity exported. There were indeed fluctuations, caused mainly by the competition among buyers after the opening of the Yangtze when heavy speculation went on in both China and Britain. For this reason, a considerable amount of adulterated green tea was sold in the British market in the 19th century, and many British researchers tested imported green tea as an experimental object and constantly questioned the quality of tea leaves. The complicated issues surrounding the adulterated tea during this period have not been fully studied. Thus, this paper will look at the adulterated tea in the British market during the 19th century by examining Robert Fortune\u27s investigation records in the coloring process of adulterated tea.文部科学省グローバルCOEプログラム 関西大学文化交渉学教育研究拠点[東アジアの歴史と動態
