Classical Chinese Translator Skill#

Overview#

Professional skill for translating Classical Chinese texts to modern vernacular Chinese with high-quality standards (98.5+ points). Supports EPUB/AZW3/MOBI electronic book format conversion, preservation of original structure, and specialized terminology handling for philosophical, medical, and cultivation texts.

Features#

• High-Quality Translation: Sentence-by-sentence accurate translation with 98.5+ quality standard
• Format Preservation: Maintains original EPUB/HTML structure while replacing content
• Specialized Terminology: Handles Daoist, Buddhist, Confucian, and medical terminology with proper explanations
• Batch Processing: Processes chapters in batches for quality control
• Validation: Built-in XML/EPUB validation to prevent formatting errors
• Custom Rules: Configurable translation rules for different text types

Requirements#

• Python 3.6+
• ebooklib library ( pip install ebooklib)
• lxml library ( pip install lxml)
• Optional: mobi tools for AZW3 conversion

Usage Examples#

Basic Translation#

bash

classical-chinese-translator --input book.epub --output translated_book.epub --quality-standard 98.5

With Custom Terminology Dictionary#

bash

classical-chinese-translator --input text.xhtml --output translated.xhtml --terminology-dict daoist_terms.json

Batch Processing#

bash

classical-chinese-translator --input-dir chapters/ --output-dir translated/ --batch-size 3

Format Conversion + Translation#

bash

classical-chinese-translator --convert azw3 --input book.azw3 --output book_translated.epub

Configuration Options#

Quality Standards#

• --quality-standard 98.5: Enforce high-quality translation rules
• --modern-syntax-only: Force completely modern sentence structures
• --explain-terms: Automatically explain specialized terminology in parentheses

Format Handling#

• --preserve-original: Keep original files as backup
• --validate-xml: Validate XML/HTML structure before and after processing
• --epub-check: Run epubcheck validation on output

Special Cases#

• --exclude-patterns: Exclude specific patterns from translation (e.g., "按：此书旧无作者姓氏.*")
• --custom-rules: Apply custom translation rules for specific text types

Security Considerations#

• Input sanitization for XML/HTML content
• Safe file path handling to prevent directory traversal
• Memory limits for large file processing
• No external network calls during processing

Error Handling#

• Detailed error reporting for XML/HTML parsing issues
• Graceful degradation for malformed input files
• Automatic backup creation before processing
• Validation failure rollback

Performance#

• Optimized for large electronic books (1000+ pages)
• Memory-efficient processing for resource-constrained environments
• Parallel processing support for batch operations

Compatibility#

• EPUB 2.0/3.0
• AZW3 (via mobi-tools conversion)
• MOBI (via mobi-tools conversion)
• Plain XHTML/HTML files
• UTF-8 encoded text files

Quality Assurance#

All translations follow the 98.5-point quality standard:

1. Complete vernacular modernization (no classical syntax)
2. Comprehensive terminology explanation
3. Sentence-by-sentence accuracy (not summary/paraphrase)
4. Natural modern Chinese expression
5. Proper handling of cultural and philosophical concepts

Installation#

This skill is compatible with OpenClaw skillhub and can be installed via:

bash

openclaw skill install classical-chinese-translator

Or manually by copying the skill directory to ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/