The large-scale consumption among Chinese people of "leaf tea" (tea leaves that had been cured over a fire) only began when the founder of the Ming Dynasty, by imperial edict, banned the use of "round tea" and compelled the use of leaf tea for the offering of tribute by his subjects. It only goes back 300 years.
中國仕紳階級大量地喝「葉茶」（經過炒菁及烘焙的芽茶），是從明太祖下詔廢「團餅」改「葉茶」進貢開始，也就是說，才不過三百多年歷史。