https://github.com/jezekon/hsk-character-map
Chinese-English dictionary for Obsidian that visualizes HSK character relationships
https://github.com/jezekon/hsk-character-map
chinese dictionary graph-visualization hsk-vocabulary julia obsidian study-tool
Last synced: 4 months ago
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Chinese-English dictionary for Obsidian that visualizes HSK character relationships
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/jezekon/hsk-character-map
- Owner: jezekon
- License: mit
- Created: 2025-07-30T16:10:41.000Z (11 months ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2025-10-28T20:42:21.000Z (8 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-10-28T22:30:20.569Z (8 months ago)
- Topics: chinese, dictionary, graph-visualization, hsk-vocabulary, julia, obsidian, study-tool
- Language: Julia
- Homepage: https://github.com/jezekon/hsk-character-map/releases
- Size: 1.53 MB
- Stars: 2
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- License: LICENSE
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README
# HSK Character Map
When learning Chinese, it's hard to remember which words share the same characters. You might know that 学 means "study", but it's not obvious that this same character appears in 学生 (student), 大学 (university), and 学习 (to study). Traditional dictionaries show you one word at a time. This tool shows you how characters connect across your entire HSK vocabulary, making it easier to spot patterns and learn related words together.
**Features:**
- HSK levels 1-7 support
- Traditional and simplified characters
- Visual connections using [Obsidian](https://obsidian.md/) graph view
- Markdown files with translations, character breakdowns and cross-links
This tool creates an interactive dictionary for [Obsidian](https://obsidian.md/) that turns your HSK vocabulary into an interactive map. Open any word and see all the related words that share its characters. You learn connections, not just individual words.
## Visual Example
## How It Works
Take the word **学习** (to study). It contains two characters that also appear in other words:
- **学** appears in 学生 (student) and 大学 (university)
- **习** appears in 练习 (practice) and 习惯 (habit)
The tool finds these connections and creates clickable links between related words.
## How to Use
### Option 1: Download Pre-built Obsidian Vaults (Recommended)
1. Go to the [Releases](../../releases) page
2. Download the vault for your desired HSK level(s), for example:
- `HSK-1-4-Traditional.zip` / `HSK-1-4-Simplified.zip`
3. Extract the zip file
4. Open Obsidian → "Open folder as vault"
5. Select the extracted directory
6. Switch to Graph View to visualize character relationships
### Option 2: Generate Custom Vault with Julia Script
For developers or those wanting specific HSK level combinations:
1. **Prerequisites**: [Julia](https://julialang.org/) 1.11+ with JSON package
2. **Data**: Ensure HSK JSON files are in `data/hsk_raw/` directory
3. **Run**: Execute `julia --project=. main.jl` and follow the prompts to select:
- HSK levels (e.g., `1-4`, `1,3,5`, or `6`)
- Character type (traditional or simplified)
4. **Open**: Use the generated `ObsidianVault` directory in Obsidian
## Output Structure
Each word generates a markdown file with:
- HSK level tags (`#hsk1`, `#hsk2`, etc.)
- English meanings
- Character component links organized by:
- Individual Characters
- Two-Character Words
- Three-Character Words
- Multi-Character Words
**Example**: `大學生 (dà xué shēng), daxuesheng.md`
```markdown
#hsk1
university student
### All meanings:
- university student
- college student
## Character Components
### Individual Characters:
- [[大 (dà), da]] (big; large; great)
- [[学 (xué), xue]] (to learn)
- [[生 (shēng), sheng]] (to be born)
### Two-Character Words:
- [[大学 (Dà xué), daxue]] (the Great Learning, one of the Four Books 四书 in Confucianism)
- [[学生 (xué sheng), xuesheng]] (student)
```
## Acknowledgments
- Inspired by [Vietnamese Language Graph](https://github.com/DavidASix/vietnamese-language-graph) by DavidASix
- HSK vocabulary data from [Complete HSK Vocabulary](https://github.com/drkameleon/complete-hsk-vocabulary)