The pre-modern Chinese texts on this site are in the public domain. Much of the apparatus around them is not. This page is the public register of what we have used, and on what terms.
The distinction that matters
A text composed two thousand years ago is out of copyright. That does not mean every digital copy, typesetting, or translation of it is free to reproduce. Three things are commonly protected even when the underlying text is not:
- Modern critical editions. The editor’s choice of base text, collation, punctuation, and emendation is original scholarly work.
- Modern translations. An English rendering made in the twentieth or twenty-first century is the translator’s copyright, regardless of the age of the source.
- Photographic reproductions. A scan or photograph of a rare printing may be claimed by the holding library or publisher, even where the book itself is old.
Our own transcription and our own English rendering are ours to publish. Anything we take from a modern edition, translation, or image is either licensed, quoted within the limits of fair use and fair dealing with attribution, or not used at all.
Base-edition register
Each work we publish is listed below with its base edition, the state of its rights clearance, and how many chapters are out. The register is generated from the works themselves, so it cannot fall out of step with what has actually been published. Nothing is transcribed in bulk until its row is confirmed.
| Work | Base edition | Rights | Chapters out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Huangdi Neijing · Lingshu 黃帝內經靈樞 Huángdì Nèijīng Língshū | 《黃帝素問靈樞經》十二卷八十一篇，宋·史崧校定并音釋。據上海涵芬樓《四部叢刊》子部影印明趙府居敬堂刊本錄入，卷首牌記題「上海涵芬樓景明趙府居敬堂刊本」，並記原書版匡高營造尺六寸三分、寬四寸四分。目錄末行作「元二十四卷今併爲十二卷計八十一篇」。底本與影印本均屬公有領域。 | Public domain | 81 |
| Huangdi Neijing · Suwen 黃帝內經素問 Huángdì Nèijīng Sùwèn | 《重廣補註黃帝內經素問》二十四卷，唐·王冰注，宋·林億、孫奇、高保衡等校正，宋·孫兆重改誤。據上海涵芬樓《四部叢刊初編》影印明嘉靖二十九年（1550）顧從德覆宋刊本錄入，卷一牌記題「上海涵芬樓景印明顧氏翻宋本」。底本與影印本均屬公有領域。 | Public domain | 79 |
| Jingui Yaolue 金匱要略 Jīnguì yàolüè | Not yet selected — nothing from this work is transcribed until it is. | To be confirmed | — |
| Nanjing 難經 Nàn jīng | Not yet selected — nothing from this work is transcribed until it is. | To be confirmed | — |
| Shanghan Lun 傷寒論 Shānghán lùn | 《注解傷寒論》十卷二十二篇，漢·張機撰，金·成無己注。據上海涵芬樓《四部叢刊》子部影印明嘉靖汪濟眀刊本錄入。底本經文用大字、成注用雙行小字，二者版面上截然可分；本站錄經文，成注擇要節引，標「成注（節）」，不入正文。卷末附釋音，逐字注反切或直音，為定音之第一手。底本與影印本均屬公有領域。 | Public domain | 5 |
| Shennong Bencao Jing 神農本草經 Shénnóng Běncǎo Jīng | Not yet selected — nothing from this work is transcribed until it is. | To be confirmed | — |
3 of 6 works have a confirmed base edition. Register data last changed October 28, 2026.
This register is deliberately honest about being unfinished. Most works are still unconfirmed. Publishing a text before its source is cleared risks having to withdraw it along with every note and citation built on it.
Images and facsimiles
Every image published here is listed with the holding library or the person it comes from, and the terms it is used under. Images are credited on the media item itself, so this list cannot fall out of step with what is actually on the site.
| Image | Credit | Terms | Used on |
|---|---|---|---|
 Huangdi Neijing Suwen — opening leaf, Gulin Shutang Yuan edition, 1339 | Library of Congress via World Digital Library (WDL 11409) | Public domain | Home page banner |
Modern works consulted
Where a glossary entry sets our rendering beside the renderings already current in English, the works compared are registered here. They remain in copyright: only short renderings are quoted, with attribution, and no passage is reproduced from them. The list is built from the glossary itself, so a work cannot be cited on the site without appearing here.
No modern edition or translation is quoted on the site.
Citing us
Our transcription, pinyin, and English renderings may be quoted with attribution and a link, including for teaching and non-commercial scholarly use. Please cite the base edition as well as this site — the site is the delivery mechanism, not the authority. No formal licence (such as a Creative Commons licence) is attached to our own material yet; until one is named, the terms above are the permission we give.
If we have got something wrong
If you hold rights in material that appears here and you have not licensed it to us, or if an attribution is wrong or missing, please write to us through the contact page. We will remove the material while the matter is resolved and record the removal here. We would rather take down a page than argue about it.
Nothing has been removed or corrected at a rights holder’s request. If that changes, the removal will be recorded here.