Chinese eBook Encoding On Kindle

psx10k · 01-07-2012, 07:50 PM

Hi,

I recently bought a Kindle, and have loaded some chinese mobi ebooks on it for my parents. The content shows as simplified chinese.

If possible, we would like to read the ebooks in traditional chinese instead.

Does anyone know how we could do this? I know that the encoding comes into play, but I'm not sure at what stage?

Would the original mobi file need to be reconverted to a new mobi file with a different encoding scheme? If so, can Calibre or another tool do this conversion?

Or, is encoding controlled at the Kindle level (i.e. the mobi file can be interpreted as either simplified or traditional). If this is the case, does anyone know how to configure the Kindle to show content in traditional chinese?

Thanks for any help on this subject!

susan_cassidy · 01-07-2012, 07:55 PM

The Kindle supports traditional Chinese, but the book would have to be changed from simplified to traditional. Not knowing Chinese, I have no idea if this is more like a translation required, or just character encoding.

Yes, the file has to be changed to traditional encoding to be able to use traditional characters.

I don't know of a tool that translates Chinese characters, but it is possible that one exists.

hch568 · 01-07-2012, 08:05 PM

Traditional Chinese are in big5 coding, and simplified Chinese are usually in GB or Hz coding. I'm not sure whether Kindle can read unicode, but even in unicode they are in different coding pages/system, I believe.

You need to convert the file from gb coding to big5 code. It can be done easily if it is in simple txt (I'm using convertz to do that), and there're other free converting tools a google search away. I'm not sure how to do it for a complicate mobi file, though. Convertz can convert traditional Chinese into simplified (gb->big5, unicode->big5, etc, and vice versa) in ascii format. Maybe you can use calibre to convert it into txt, use convertz to convert txt from gb to big5, then use calibre to convert a txt into mobi. Haven't done it before, so can't say whether it works or not.

Doitsu · 01-08-2012, 04:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by psx10k

I recently bought a Kindle, and have loaded some chinese mobi ebooks on it for my parents. The content shows as simplified chinese.

AFAIK, the Kindle has no options for changing the display from simplified to traditional Chinese characters. Therefore the source text was most likely encoded to use simplified characters.

If you have a Kindle 3, you might want to check out the alternative Kindle OS 多看 2012 (Chinese site), which is developed by Chinese developers and features several IMEs, an English-Chinese StarDict dictionary and other features of interest to Chinese speakers. They also have a forum and I'm sure that some of their members must have encountered the same problem and already came up with an easy solution. (There's also an English MR thread with more information).

Quote:

Originally Posted by psx10k

If so, can Calibre or another tool do this conversion?

It's unlikely, but another Chinese user might have created a conversion plugin.

I usually get more consistent results with non-Latin characters by first creating an ePub with Sigil and then converting it with either Kindlegen or Calibre.

Please find attached a simple test ePub that I created with Sigil and then converted with both Kindlegen and Calibre.

psx10k · 01-10-2012, 04:03 AM

Thanks for the replies! I'll look into some of the options when I get a bit of time.

Serpentine · 01-10-2012, 06:44 AM

There's also Duokan, which will happily cover all of this.

susan_cassidy · 08-27-2013, 07:29 PM

Why did you resurrect a year and a half old thread to say that?

01-07-2012, 07:50 PM	#1
psx10k Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: none	Chinese eBook Encoding On Kindle Hi, I recently bought a Kindle, and have loaded some chinese mobi ebooks on it for my parents. The content shows as simplified chinese. If possible, we would like to read the ebooks in traditional chinese instead. Does anyone know how we could do this? I know that the encoding comes into play, but I'm not sure at what stage? Would the original mobi file need to be reconverted to a new mobi file with a different encoding scheme? If so, can Calibre or another tool do this conversion? Or, is encoding controlled at the Kindle level (i.e. the mobi file can be interpreted as either simplified or traditional). If this is the case, does anyone know how to configure the Kindle to show content in traditional chinese? Thanks for any help on this subject!

01-07-2012, 08:05 PM	#3
hch568 Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 14 Join Date: May 2010 Device: IPad2, EZRead Touch, Garmin-Asus M10	Traditional Chinese are in big5 coding, and simplified Chinese are usually in GB or Hz coding. I'm not sure whether Kindle can read unicode, but even in unicode they are in different coding pages/system, I believe. You need to convert the file from gb coding to big5 code. It can be done easily if it is in simple txt (I'm using convertz to do that), and there're other free converting tools a google search away. I'm not sure how to do it for a complicate mobi file, though. Convertz can convert traditional Chinese into simplified (gb->big5, unicode->big5, etc, and vice versa) in ascii format. Maybe you can use calibre to convert it into txt, use convertz to convert txt from gb to big5, then use calibre to convert a txt into mobi. Haven't done it before, so can't say whether it works or not. Last edited by hch568; 01-07-2012 at 08:14 PM.

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01-07-2012, 07:55 PM	#2
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	The Kindle supports traditional Chinese, but the book would have to be changed from simplified to traditional. Not knowing Chinese, I have no idea if this is more like a translation required, or just character encoding. Yes, the file has to be changed to traditional encoding to be able to use traditional characters. I don't know of a tool that translates Chinese characters, but it is possible that one exists.

01-10-2012, 04:03 AM	#5
psx10k Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: none	Thanks for the replies! I'll look into some of the options when I get a bit of time.

01-10-2012, 06:44 AM	#6
Serpentine Evangelist Posts: 416 Karma: 1045911 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Cape Town, South Africa Device: Kindle 3	There's also Duokan, which will happily cover all of this.

08-27-2013, 07:29 PM	#7
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	Why did you resurrect a year and a half old thread to say that?

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