Emei tea rose to prominence as early as the Jin Dynasty (266-420 AD). The Chronicles of Huayang: Local Records of Shu (华阳国志·蜀志 Huayang guo zhi: shu zhi) documents that "Nan'an and Wuyang are both renowned for their exceptional tea." In his work Annotations on the Literary Selections of Zhaoming (昭明文选注 Zhaoming wenxuan zhu), the Tang Dynasty scholar Li Shan documented that "Mount Emei is abundant in medicinal herbs, and its tea is exceptionally fine, distinct from any other in the land. Notably, the tea grown at the peak behind Heishui Temple is renowned for its excellent flavor. Interestingly, this tea yields white leaves for two years, then green in the third, alternating predictably. The cause, possibly tied to local climate and terrain, remains a mystery." Emei's Xueya (snow bud) tea was highly prized as early as the Song Dynasty. This is evident in the verse by Su Dongpo, a renowned poet of the era, who penned, "No longer fate grants me a jade bowl for Emei's grace." In the Ming Dynasty, Emei tea saw further development. The Chronicles of Emei County (峨眉县志 Emei xian zhi) records, "In the early Ming Dynasty, Emei received a tea garden as a royal gift. In Baishui Temple (now Wannian Temple), ten thousand tea plants flourished there, mainly for the Yunshui temples (the region's five main temples). By the end of Emperor Wanli's reign in the Ming Dynasty, the garden was mortgaged by the monks but later redeemed in the early Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty for a thousand taels of gold."

Since the Tang Dynasty, the white-bud tea on Mount Emei, known as "Xuemin" (snow tea) then, was designated as tribute tea, a tradition that continued uninterrupted until the Qing Dynasty. Especially during the Ming Dynasty, spanning 267 years, the quantity of tribute tea supplied was at its peak. In the Qing Dynasty, at least three locations were famed for producing tribute tea. Besides the Wannian Temple, a stele with the "Imperial Tea Document" was unearthed near the tomb tower of Monk Baotan, who was a state preceptor of the Ming Dynasty, in Puxing Chang (now Puxing Township). This stele indicates a direct connection between Emei tea and the imperial tribute system. Furthermore, the area around Yuping Temple in Chuanzhu Township was also renowned for its tea production. Annually, the temple's monks carefully harvested and processed the surrounding tea for tribute