Abstract: Chinese characters are not only the main carrier of cultural exchanges between China and Japan, but also an important tool for the construction of cultural identity between China and Japan. In Chinese, “cha chi” is used as a compound word, which was first seen in Chu Ci and originally meant “live and stand with regret”. After “cha chi”was introduced to Japan, it retained the original meaning of Chinese and the form of compound words in ancient books, but it was split and reduced to a word “cha” in documents such as Manyoshu and Kokin Wakashu, and gradually given a positive meaning. Since the 16th century, “cha” has been widely known as the most representative Japanese beauty consciousness, life values, especially as the spiritual concept of Japanese tea ceremony.

Key words: Japanese culture, Chinese characters, cha, recognition, evolution