1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,599 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales right there on display, just waiting 5 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,560 Speaker 1: Some aspects of culture are so ingrained that we cannot 7 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 1: imagine a time without them. It's easy to picture what 8 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:44,480 Speaker 1: it was like to not have cars or cell phones 9 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: or email, but conceive what human life was like before 10 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 1: the invention of water filters requires a more subtle stretch 11 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 1: of the imagination. The same can be true of other 12 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: drinks and foods. The origins of alcohol, bread, and more. 13 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,279 Speaker 1: We've known these things for so long the original incidents 14 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,120 Speaker 1: that led to their invention are the stuff of myth. 15 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 1: And this is true for tea. It comes in such 16 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:11,240 Speaker 1: a wide variety of flavors, green, black, herbal mint. It 17 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:14,839 Speaker 1: has iterations that span an equally wide variety of cultures. 18 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: English breakfast tea, Darjeeling chai. They say more about the 19 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: people who prepared them than they do about their own history, 20 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: which makes you wonder where did tea come from in 21 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: the first place. We know it originated in East Asia 22 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:30,760 Speaker 1: and slowly spread to the rest of the world. But 23 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:33,240 Speaker 1: once you go far enough back in history, you find 24 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 1: yourself in a realm where myth and history intersect. In 25 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:41,120 Speaker 1: the early two thousands BCE, Yan emperor shen Nong was 26 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 1: traveling with the column of Servants, a mythic figure in 27 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 1: Chinese folklore. It said in some stories that he was 28 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: born after his mother inhaled the breath of a dragon. 29 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 1: By the time he had grown into adulthood, he was 30 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 1: a polymath, an herbalist, and a scientist with an extremely 31 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:00,160 Speaker 1: curious mind. In fact, it said that he journeyed all 32 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 1: the way across China to record every herb that grew 33 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 1: in the wild and what medicinal effects they might have. 34 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 1: As the story goes, during his travels, he stopped in 35 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:12,520 Speaker 1: order to catch his breath. His servants dutifully began to 36 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 1: boil some water. Now shen Nong had learned a while 37 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:18,639 Speaker 1: back that boiling water makes it safe to drink. While 38 00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:22,080 Speaker 1: the emperor sat patiently waiting for that, enjoying the summer air, 39 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 1: dried leaves from a nearby plant fell into the boiling water, 40 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:31,520 Speaker 1: and the smell caught shen Nong's attention. Immediately, he experimentally 41 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:34,280 Speaker 1: sipped the leaf infused water and was delighted by the 42 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:37,639 Speaker 1: taste as well. He called his servants to gather around him, 43 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:40,000 Speaker 1: and he declared that the drink made from these leaves 44 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:44,239 Speaker 1: was healthy and refreshing and must be remembered. This plant, 45 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:47,799 Speaker 1: according to the legend, was the camellia bush. Future botanists 46 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 1: when named this the Camellia sinensis or tea tree for short. 47 00:02:51,919 --> 00:02:54,640 Speaker 1: The drink made from this plant, tea would become a 48 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: global sensation. Although it started as a purely medicinal beverage, 49 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 1: historical records of tea started to appear some three thousand 50 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:06,080 Speaker 1: years later in three hundred CE, where it was still 51 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 1: primarily used for medicine. It was during the Tang dynasty 52 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:12,520 Speaker 1: from the six hundreds to the nine hundreds that tea 53 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 1: became a ubiquitous beverage to enjoy socially rather than just 54 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: for the health benefits. This period would become known as 55 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 1: the Classic Age of tea, and curiously, it's around this 56 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:26,600 Speaker 1: time that we find another legend about the origin of tea, 57 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:30,399 Speaker 1: this time from a Buddhist perspective, the man who would 58 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: bring Buddhism to China was an Indian monk called Bodhidharma. 59 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: The real man who bore that title likely lived in 60 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 1: the four hundreds, and the legend is without a date. 61 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 1: It is, like so many fables, timeless. It begins with 62 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: Bodhadharma meditating while staring at a cave wall. He would 63 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 1: stare at this cave wall for nine whole years in 64 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 1: an effort to clear his mind and focus on achieving enlightenment. However, 65 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: as soon as he'd begun, he became frustrated. His eyes 66 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:00,760 Speaker 1: kept drifting clothes, and he kept dozing off. In order 67 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 1: to keep himself awake, the monk tore off his eyelids 68 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 1: and threw them to the ground where they had fallen. 69 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 1: A strange plant began to grow, a tea plant. Now, 70 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: these two origin stories of tea, where the plant came 71 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 1: from and who discovered the drink are incompatible if you 72 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:20,200 Speaker 1: think about them as history, because it certainly wouldn't be 73 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:23,159 Speaker 1: possible for the first tea plant to grow three thousand 74 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:26,480 Speaker 1: years after the drink was discovered. But if you think 75 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:29,360 Speaker 1: about them as culture, the stories seem not just possible 76 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 1: but inevitable. Tea is such a humble drink that it 77 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 1: only makes sense to attach its discovery to great figures 78 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:41,800 Speaker 1: of myth and legend, characters that represent curiosity, discovery, and thoughtfulness, 79 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:45,000 Speaker 1: all the qualities one would hope to cultivate while having 80 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:48,640 Speaker 1: a peaceful cup of tea on a quiet afternoon. If 81 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:53,359 Speaker 1: a cultural practice becomes common enough and inevitably becomes a legend, 82 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:56,880 Speaker 1: all it needs is the right amount of time to steep. 83 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:13,840 Speaker 1: Some stories are curious because of how delightful they are. Others, though, 84 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:16,880 Speaker 1: have a bit of darkness, and today's tale is part 85 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:19,719 Speaker 1: of the latter. That said, there's always something to learn 86 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:24,040 Speaker 1: from history, so hold on and stay curious. The backdrop 87 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:27,279 Speaker 1: of this story is unavoidably tragic that takes place on 88 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:30,560 Speaker 1: the Islands of Hawaii during the late nineteenth century, when 89 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:32,800 Speaker 1: the Kingdom of Hawaii was in the process of being 90 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 1: usurped by the Dull Pineapple Company in an illegal coup. 91 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:40,160 Speaker 1: But even during such a dark period of Hawaiian history, 92 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:44,080 Speaker 1: there is a glimmer of light, inspiring people whose tireless 93 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:47,480 Speaker 1: work preserve their culture even in the face of aggressive 94 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:51,240 Speaker 1: industrial exploitation. One of these was a member of the 95 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:54,800 Speaker 1: Hawaiian royal family, a young woman named Kayo Lani, the 96 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:59,679 Speaker 1: daughter of Princess Leke Leke and the Scottish businessman Archibald Scott. 97 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 1: She was the fourth in line to the Hawaiian throne. 98 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:06,919 Speaker 1: Like any child in a royal family, she had responsibilities 99 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 1: thrust on her from an early age. According to those 100 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:12,559 Speaker 1: who knew her, she loved to paint and she loved 101 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: to surf, and this latter hobby was frustrating to the 102 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 1: more conservative Christian residents of Hawaii, who disapproved of surfing 103 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:24,039 Speaker 1: as an uncivilized native practice. As a child, she also 104 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:26,520 Speaker 1: had a fondness for the peacocks kept on the grounds 105 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:29,359 Speaker 1: of the Royal Hawaiian State. She would earn the nickname 106 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:33,240 Speaker 1: the Peacock Princess due to the time she spent among 107 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 1: these colorful birds. In order to protect her from the 108 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 1: instability of the political situation in Hawaii, she was sent 109 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:43,719 Speaker 1: to a boarding school in England, where she became fluent 110 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:46,720 Speaker 1: in German and French on top of her native languages 111 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:49,920 Speaker 1: of Hawaiian and English, and then, at the age of fifteen, 112 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 1: she was named Crown Princess of Hawaii by Queen Lily Ukulani. 113 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: Even while studying abroad, there's some evidence that she still 114 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:01,080 Speaker 1: found time to surf, possibly become the first woman to 115 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,200 Speaker 1: write a surfboard in the British Isles. Her cousins had 116 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:06,520 Speaker 1: been the first men to do so, setting the record 117 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 1: a number of years earlier. Her education, sadly, though, would 118 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:13,360 Speaker 1: be cut short by the political turmoil in Hawaii as 119 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 1: the kingdom was deposed. She and the queen became strong 120 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 1: advocates for Hawaiian independence, speaking out for the country that 121 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 1: they believed was being taken from them. She traveled to 122 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 1: Washington to make her case before Congress and President Grover Cleveland. 123 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 1: As she traveled through America, newspapers followed her closely. She 124 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:36,880 Speaker 1: was ultimately unsuccessful in preventing Hawaii annexation and returned to 125 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: her home in Hawaii to join Queen Lili Okolani and 126 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:43,200 Speaker 1: her father, and there she and the queen protested the 127 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 1: annexation ceremony by wearing black funeral dresses and refusing to attend. 128 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:51,160 Speaker 1: You know, today we live in a post monarchy world. 129 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 1: Most kings and queens that still exist are ceremonial roles, 130 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 1: relics of great imperial past. Like the British Royal family, 131 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:02,440 Speaker 1: but dedicateations to the Hawaiian royal family have a different 132 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:06,520 Speaker 1: tone than Buckingham Palace. They were powerful monarchs, to be sure, 133 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: and the legacy of the Kingdom of Hawaii has a 134 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:13,280 Speaker 1: purity to it before the sugar plantations and pineapple farmers arrived. 135 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:17,320 Speaker 1: The island spirit that survives today somehow is undeluded by 136 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:21,680 Speaker 1: its status as an American state. And as for Kaiolani herself, 137 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:25,640 Speaker 1: while she's a figurehead of the spirit, the surfing painting 138 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:28,440 Speaker 1: princess who traveled the world and then came home to 139 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:31,320 Speaker 1: fight for the dignity of her people. If you were 140 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:33,800 Speaker 1: on the island of Owahu in eighteen ninety you might 141 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:36,440 Speaker 1: have caught a glimpse of this image at sunset, a 142 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:39,400 Speaker 1: man and a young woman sitting beneath a banyan tree 143 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:42,400 Speaker 1: near the Hawaiian Royal residence. And this woman, of course, 144 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 1: would be Princess Kaiolani, and the man, a Scotsman of 145 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: about thirty eight years, was author and poet Robert Lewis Stevenson, 146 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:53,839 Speaker 1: writer of Treasure Island. He had made friends with the 147 00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:57,480 Speaker 1: Hawaiian royal family, and Kaiolani was quite fond of him. 148 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:00,800 Speaker 1: Before he left the islands, he wrote a poem for her, 149 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:05,400 Speaker 1: referencing her travels and indomitable spirit. It goes in part 150 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:08,840 Speaker 1: like this fourth from her land to mine, she goes 151 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:13,080 Speaker 1: the island made the island rose, But our Scott's Islands 152 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 1: far away shall glitter with unwonted day and cast for 153 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 1: once their tempest. Buy to smile in Kyle Lani's eye. 154 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:27,720 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 155 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:31,680 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 156 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:36,160 Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 157 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:39,880 Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership 158 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:43,240 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 159 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:47,400 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 160 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:49,520 Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over at the 161 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:56,199 Speaker 1: Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.