Analects Reader
Confucius, in full — 論語
Free · In-App Purchases · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
The complete Analects of Confucius: all twenty books and 512 passages, in the original Chinese and in English, built for actually reading it.
Every character is tappable. The card that opens shows what the character means here, in this passage — not a dictionary's one-size answer — along with its reading, the terms it belongs to, and how it is used across the whole book. Pinyin sits over the characters when you want it and disappears when you don't.
READ IT YOUR WAY
• Study — the full apparatus: text, translation, pinyin, tappable words, per-passage tone coloring.
• Translation — the English as a book. The original waits one tap away under each passage.
• Chinese — the received text alone, unglossed, with the English one tap away.
• Classical — the text as old editions set it, in columns right to left. Four pages to choose from: one typeset, and three photographed from real copies held in Tokyo, Taipei, and Kyoto — a Qing manuscript, a Ming block print, and a 1550 scholar's copy — with every character mapped, so the glosses work even on a photograph.
Scroll the book as one column, or turn it one passage per page, like a printed book.
THE COMMENTARY GROWS WITH THE PODCAST
The app carries the episode guides from the Exploring the Analects podcast — passage by passage: the philosophical discussion, the historical context, the language notes, with the audio a tap away. New episodes arrive as they are published.
YOURS, IN THE FULLEST SENSE
Notes you take live in your own iCloud Drive as Markdown — readable anywhere, and they outlive the app. The Chinese text is built in and always works offline. There are no accounts, no ads, no analytics, and no tracking: nothing about your reading is collected.
Everything is free — the text, both translations, the glosses, the classical pages, the commentary. A tip jar exists for those who want to keep the project going; nothing is unlocked, because nothing is locked.
Ratings & Reviews
- This app has not received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
- Reader mode now hides the status bar and uses more of the page width.
- The English is no longer underlined. Words with no Chinese behind them are a shade lighter instead.
- Translation mode: tap an English word to see the Chinese it translates. You can turn this off under Aa.
- Tap a character and its card opens without moving the page. Tap the English and its Chinese scrolls into view.
- Cards and sheets are easier to see in dark mode, and colors are stronger on e-ink screens.
- Bug fix: Your reading place no longer jumps when you open settings or reader mode.
The developer, Elliott Bernstein, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
- Diagnostics
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Provider
- Elliott Bernstein
- Size
- 289.2 MB
- Category
- Books
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 15.1 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 15.1 or later. - iPad
Requires iPadOS 15.1 or later. - iPod touch
Requires iOS 15.1 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 12.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- Up to the Hall USD 10.00
- Through the Gate USD 3.00
- Into the Chamber USD 30.00
- Copyright
- © 2026 Elliott Bernstein