茶 means “tea”

ちゃ · cha

On'yomi (Chinese reading): チャ, サ

JLPT N4 · Taught in grade 2 · 9 strokes

The story

The Japanese tea ceremony captures the essence of mindfulness: every movement, every sip, sacred.

From formal ceremonies to everyday comfort in a cup

Where it comes from

Phonetic-Semantic (形声文字): Plant radical + bitter/astringent component: the bitter plant.

Tea was originally called 荼 (tú, a bitter herb). A stroke was later dropped to create 茶 (chá), giving tea its own unique character. The plant radical (艹) on top tells you it comes from nature.

To remember it: A plant (艹) growing on a person's (人) table/shelf (木-variant): tea is a cultivated plant drink.

Its parts

艹 Grass/plant · Top
人 Person · Center
木 Tree · Bottom

A plant (艹) harvested by a person (人) from a tree (木): tea

Words with 茶

茶葉 (ちゃば, chaba): tea leaves
緑茶 (りょくちゃ, ryokucha): green tea

Kanji that look like 茶

荷 (baggage / load): Both have 艹 on top: 茶 has 余 below, 荷 has 何

More from Food & Dining

Learn 茶 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji