Read the Chinese classics in their original vertical layout. Tap any character for stroke order, audio, pinyin, and translation. Keep your own notes on every line. That's it.
Not a course you finish — a room you return to. Work through the canon one text at a time, at your own level.
Open a library of 1,200+ texts — the 諸子, the histories (史記), the Tang poets, the 詩經, 楚辭 and Song 詞. Browse by era or genre.
The original layout — top to bottom, right to left — in Traditional or Simplified, your choice.
Pinyin, gloss, audio, and animated stroke order for every character — on when you want it, off when you don't.
A full translation beside the text, so you can check your reading against the meaning.
Your own notes on every text, saved to your account and waiting on any device.
Mark each text studied and watch your progress through the classics fill.
The original layout — top to bottom, right to left — the way the classics were meant to be read.
Every character animates in the correct order — replay any glyph, even the rare ones.
Hear any character, or the whole passage, read aloud.
1,200+ texts — the 諸子 (道德經, 莊子, 論語, 孟子), the 詩經 & 楚辭, Sima Qian's histories (史記), the 唐詩三百首 (杜甫, 李白, 王維), Song 詞 (蘇軾, 李煜) and 納蘭性德 — with more added weekly.
Your own notes on every text, saved to your account and waiting on any device.
A full translation beside each text, so you can test your reading against the meaning.
Mark each text studied and watch your path through the classics fill — not a streak you can break.
Every text reads in both Traditional (繁體) and Simplified (简体) — flip the switch up top.
A searchable 成語 collection — every idiom traced to the classical text it came from. Browse it free →
You're not choosing between us and Duolingo. You're choosing between a raw text database, a shelf of paper commentaries, and a chatbot that makes things up. Here's the honest comparison.
| VerticalChinese | ctext.org | Paper editions | ChatGPT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A curated canon, laid out ready to read | 印 | raw database | 印 | brings no text |
| Vertical, right-to-left — the original layout | 印 | — | 印 | — |
| Tap any character — reading, audio, stroke order | 印 | — | — | — |
| Your own annotations, synced to any device | 印 | — | in the margin | — |
| Traditional & Simplified, one switch | 印 | 印 | fixed | 印 |
| Accurate — never invents a line | 印 | 印 | 印 | makes things up |
| Price | $49 once | free · raw | $$ per volume | $20+/mo |
A single session costs more and ends the moment it's over. The study room stays with you for life.
Serious readers of Chinese — intermediate-and-up learners, heritage speakers, and native speakers who want to read the classics closely. You get the original texts, character-level help when you want it, translation to check yourself against, and a place to keep your own notes.
Yes. The value isn't decoding modern Chinese — it's reading the classical canon in its original vertical layout, with stroke order, audio, translation alongside, and your own annotations. A study room for the 文言文 you may have only met in school.
Yes — tap-to-reveal means nothing is forced on you. Read a text cold, then tap only the characters you're unsure of. Help on for study, off for real reading.
Both — your choice. Use the 繁 / 简 switch at the top and every text re-renders instantly; the reader remembers your preference. The classics were written in traditional characters, so that's the default.
Because that's how Chinese literature was written for two thousand years — 直書, top to bottom, right to left. Reading it the original way trains a deeper kind of recognition.
No. It runs in your browser on any device. The reader above is the real thing — try it now.
老子 · 道德經 · 第四十章
Laozi, 道德經 ch. 40 — read it vertically, the way it was written.