Chinese character for Tea

Sign for a tea room in Osaka, Japan

When learning Chinese characters in either Chinese or Japanese, one of the difficulties is remembering how they are written. Indeed, it is needed to get the global shape right but also the stroke orders. Even if it seems invisible, it definitely makes a difference!

The Chinese character for Tea is 茶 (pronounced "cha") and there is a small Japanese legend about its writing.

According to this legend, the best time to harvest the first tea leaves of the year is the 88th day of the spring in the old Japanese calendar, which is around May 1st or 2nd.

As a quick note, Japanese people used a calendar combining lunar and solar observations to measure time and their first day of spring corresponds to early February in the Gregorian calendar.

Tea House in Uji (Kyoto Prefecture, Japan)

Since this date is very important for tea farmers, the character for tea was written as the herb harvested on the 88th day of spring: 茶.

The upper part represents the herb and then from top to bottom we have 八, 十, and 八 which are the characters for 8, 10, and 8 thus representing the number 88.

Old tea house in Uji, Japan

I heard this legend a few years ago and I do not think it is true but simply a nice story for learning how to write 茶!

Indeed, this character came from China before coming to Japan and the climate is quite different in these two countries.
In addition, the 88th day of spring was an important date for all farmers in general because it was also the beginning of the rice planting season.

However, it can help to memorize how to read and write 茶 so I think it is still useful!

All the pictures in this post are mine, taken in Osaka and Uji wich are both very interesting places to visit!