structural:expansion
Personal life

Cha's parents were Zha Shuqing (查樞卿) and Xu Lu (徐祿). He had four brothers and two sisters, and was the second oldest among the seven of them. His brothers were Zha Liangjian (查良鏗; 1916–1988), Zha Lianghao (查良浩; b. 1934), Zha Liangdong (查良棟; fl. 1930s) and Zha Liangyu (查良鈺; b. 1936). His sisters were Zha Liangxiu (查良琇; b. 1926) and Zha Liangxuan (查良璇; 1928–2002). His cousin was educator and philanthropist Cha Liang-chao (查良釗: 1897 – 1982).

Cha married three times. His first wife was Du Zhifen (杜治芬), whom he married in 1948 but divorced later. In 1953, he married his second wife, Zhu Mei (朱玫), a newspaper journalist. They had two sons and two daughters: Zha Chuanxia (查傳俠), Zha Chuanti (查傳倜), Zha Chuanshi (查傳詩) and Zha Chuanne (查傳訥). Cha divorced Zhu in 1976 and married his third wife, Lin Leyi (林樂怡; b. 1953), who was 29 years his junior and 16 years old when they first met. In 1976, his son Zha Chuanxia, then 19 years old, committed suicide after a quarrel with his girlfriend while studying at Columbia University.