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SmartHanzi is a free yet professional grade application to help read real Chinese texts (web, PDF) even with a limited level in Chinese. It is intended for scholarly or professional usage, as well as a first approach of written Chinese for those "afraid of" Chinese characters.
SmartHanzi applies to both traditional and simplified characters. It is available on desktop (Windows, Mac), tablet and smartphone.
The application runs locally and can be used off-line. Texts are not transmitted to any server. All features are free.
Read and learn: parse and lookup
Parse is for getting all possible words in a text: since, in Chinese, words are not separated with spaces, different choices are often possible at a given position.
On desktop or tablet, the left part of the window shows the current text, or various lists with all text words:
- Text view: when one clicks on a character (or flies over a character: hover mode, desktop only), a subview shows all possible words at that position, starting with the longer ones. This is specifically helpful for idiomatic expressions (chengyu, very common in Chinese): a chengyu will usually appear first.
- The list views may show words and characters in two separate lists (with an option for all characters, or only characters not in a word) or a global list with the most probable words. Users can choose to show all entries for selected dictionaries, or just the first found one.
Lookup: the right part of the window will show details for the selected word or character: stroke order, kangxi key, words containing or contained in the current word, and various etymological indications (character components). In order to keep the presentation clear, users can easily choose the kind of details they need. This is the learn side: with this perspective beyond immediate usage, one gets progressively more familiar with words and characters.
Smartphones use a more compact presentation. The compact format is also available on tablets and desktop (soon to come on Windows) if one wishes to use the SmartHanzi reader side by side with the original text.
The expert's corner: besides recognizing the correspondence between simplified and traditional variants, SmartHanzi also recognizes multiple traditional variants. For instance, searching 真 (or finding 真 in a text) will show both 真 and 眞, according to what is present in selected dictionaries. Or it will recognize equally well 為 / 爲 or 眾 / 衆.
Although SmartHanzi is limited to free dictionaries, the integration of parse (raw translation immediately visible) and lookup details (stroke order, character components and more) makes it a powerful Chinese text reader for read and learn.
Etymology: character components
Etymology in SmartHanzi consists mainly of the identification and understanding of character components: Kangxi keys, Dr. Wieger's etymological lessons and phonetic series and Lawrence Howell's EDHCC (former Kanji Network website).
This is definitely not only for scholars. Along centuries, Chinese culture has developed a number of reference points, reasonable or simply traditional (Se non è vero, è ben trovato), well known by most Chinese.
Trying to learn Chinese writing without leveraging this invaluable assistance would be an unreasonable challenge. Etymological indications and character series emphasize these reference points. Special care has been taken to make them immediately accessible in the application.
Dictionaries
The available dictionaries include:- Dictionaries for contemporary Chinese: English, German and French.
- Short definitions from DDB (Digital Dictionary of Buddhism) and CJKV-E (Confucian, Daoist and Intellectual Historical Terms). See below the DDB Access application for the full definitions.
- A demo of Séraphin Couvreur's “Dictionnaire classique de la langue chinoise” (Chinese-French) with multiple example sentences and their source, from all periods of Chinese history, showing the evolution of character usage. Modern language still largely employs elements of classical Chinese.
Users select the relevant (active) dictionaries and their order. Lists can show all entries found for a word, or just the first one.
Dictionaries can be searched by Chinese, meaning or pinyin.
Tests
Most versions include tests based on HSK levels as a way to check one’s progress. Progress is shown on 12 months (longer on recent versions). Tests are short and errors reviewed first. One can choose longer tests, or to review unsure words or check supposedly known words.
Download
- Mac: same version on www.smarthanzi.net and Mac App store. Frequent users: download from www.smarthanzi.net is recommended.
- Windows: as of november 2025, download from www.smarthanzi.net is recommended. A new version for this website and for Microsoft Store is expected soon.
- Android: Play Store.
- iPad, iPhone: App Store.
DDB Access
DDB Access is a separate application for the collaborative projects DDB (Digital Dictionary of Buddhism) and CJKV-E (Dictionary of Confucian, Daoist, and Intellectual Historical Terms), with a look and feel very similar to SmartHanzi. Full dictionary entries for DDB and CJKV-E are much more detailed in DDB Access.
DDB Access is also a free application. Contributors get unlimited access. Anyone can access 20 full entries per day.