Good words have good sources.

Original work

ToneWick (formerly Lantern) is an independent self-hosted reader. Application code, sample texts and the small starter glossary are original and MIT-licensed. No Du Chinese stories, audio, branding, code or fonts are used.

Dictionary

Full-data installations use CC-CEDICT, by the CC-CEDICT contributors and distributed by MDBG. The installer preserves the downloaded snapshot's licence (CC BY-SA 4.0 or 3.0 as actually declared), source header and attribution. ToneWick reformats the source into JSON; that dataset retains its applicable share-alike terms. The exact snapshot metadata and retained notice are in the installation's data/provenance.json and data/CC-CEDICT-NOTICE.txt after preparation. Starter installations contain only the original small glossary.

Language engines

Prepared installations use locally hosted pinyin-pro and OpenCC-JS. Their exact versions/hashes are recorded in data/provenance.json, and upstream notices are retained under vendor/licenses/. Automatic pinyin, script conversion and segmentation are aids, not infallible authorities. Taiwan readings, names and polyphonic words deserve review.

PDF text extraction

Prepared installations use locally hosted Mozilla PDF.js with its character maps. The package version and asset hashes are recorded in data/pdf-provenance.json and upstream notices in vendor/pdfjs/licenses. The PDF component does not include PDF font programs or an OCR engine. PDFs are parsed in your browser; scanned pages need a separate OCR step. Extraction is best-effort and should be reviewed.

Taiwan and HSK learning levels

TBCL is a Taiwan language framework; TOCFL is a proficiency test. They are not alternate labels for HSK. Grades in this reader come only from the active authorized list, identified by system, source and edition in the levels panel. HSK 2.0 and HSK 3.0 remain separate; see the official HSK site. No list is bundled without established redistribution rights. A word's listed grade is not an assessment of its reader's proficiency.

Official NAER reference and vocabulary download page

Colour, without overclaiming

Eight palettes use analogous hues and restrained complementary accents. No palette is guaranteed scientifically pleasing to everybody. Colour preference and harmony are distinct, context-sensitive judgements. See Schloss & Palmer (2011), Aesthetic response to color combinations: preference, harmony, and similarity. Colour coding is optional; text labels remain available.

Optional AI practice stories

The Story Garden sends only a reviewed text excerpt and selected vocabulary after explicit consent. Codex or Claude may generate a new narrative through an approved server runner. Generated language and surface-word counts need review; they are not a proficiency or learning assessment. The source package does not include a deployed or qualified provider service. Ordinary reading remains local. The AI provider’s retention and terms are separate.

Your device, your text

Prepared installations self-host eight open-source font families via Fontsource; the original source ZIP contains no font binaries. Exact versions and notices are retained in data/fonts-provenance.json and each installed font’s OFL.txt. The live gallery distinguishes loaded fonts from device fallbacks. Local-only OS font choices remain available. Missing characters can use fallback faces; font choice does not convert the text. Text analysis takes place locally. Browser speech may use a network voice, disclosed before playback. Saved books are browser-local and not encrypted or synchronized. Keep backups. Browser speech boundary support varies; see the documented boundary event limitations.