He was a paternal cousin of the wuxia novelist Louis Cha, who is better known as Jin Yong.

Cha went to the United States in August 1918 and attended Grinnell College and the University of Chicago.

Cha returned to China in July 1922 and became a Professor of Education in Peking Teachers College (now Beijing Normal University) in August 1922.

He was elected by the Faculty Council as the Acting Dean of Studies in May 1923; Lecturer in the Summer School of Nankai University in 1923; and Director of the Institute for the Application of Scientific Measurement on Education, under the auspices of the National Association for the Advancement of Education in August 1923.

In January 1924, Cha was appointed by President Fan Yuan-Lien as Professor of Education and Dean of Studies.