cihai ·

Python library for CJK (chinese, japanese, korean) data.

This project is under active development. Follow our progress and check back for updates!

Quickstart

API / Library (this repository)

$ pip install --user cihai

from cihai.core import Cihai

c = Cihai()

if not c.unihan.is_bootstrapped:  # download and install Unihan to db
    c.unihan.bootstrap()

query = c.unihan.lookup_char('好')
glyph = query.first()
print("lookup for 好: %s" % glyph.kDefinition)
# lookup for 好: good, excellent, fine; well

query = c.unihan.reverse_char('good')
print('matches for "good": %s ' % ', '.join([glph.char for glph in query]))
# matches for "good": 㑘, 㑤, 㓛, 㘬, 㙉, 㚃, 㚒, 㚥, 㛦, 㜴, 㜺, 㝖, 㤛, 㦝, ...

See API documentation and /examples.

CLI (cihai-cli)

$ pip install --user cihai-cli

Character lookup:

$ cihai info 好

char: 好
kCantonese: hou2 hou3
kDefinition: good, excellent, fine; well
kHangul: 호
kJapaneseOn: KOU
kKorean: HO
kMandarin: hǎo
kTang: "*xɑ̀u *xɑ̌u"
kTotalStrokes: "6"
kVietnamese: háo
ucn: U+597D

Reverse lookup:

$ cihai reverse library

char: 圕
kCangjie: WLGA
kCantonese: syu1
kCihaiT: '308.302'
kDefinition: library
kMandarin: tú
kTotalStrokes: '13'
ucn: U+5715
--------

UNIHAN data

All datasets that cihai uses have stand-alone tools to export their data. No library required.

unihan-etl - UNIHAN data exports for csv, yaml and json.

Developing

$ git clone https://github.com/cihai/cihai.git`

$ cd cihai/

Bootstrap your environment and learn more about contributing. We use the same conventions / tools across all cihai projects: pytest, sphinx, mypy, ruff, tmuxp, and file watcher helpers (e.g. entr(1)).

Python versions

0.19.0: Last Python 3.7 release

Release files for cihai 0.38.0

For a detailed explanation of source distributions (sdists) and built distributions (wheels), please see the package formats documentation.

Source distribution (sdist)

Source distribution for cihai 0.38.0
File	Size	Uploaded
cihai-0.38.0.tar.gz	292.5 kB	Jun 29, 2026	Details

Built distribution (wheel)

Table of built distributions (wheels) for cihai 0.38.0
File	Interpreter	ABI	Platform	Reset
cihai-0.38.0-py3-none-any.whl 25.3 kB Jun 29, 2026	Python 3	none	any	Details

Total release size: 317.8 kB

Release files / cihai-0.38.0.tar.gz

Download URL	cihai-0.38.0.tar.gz
Size	292.5 kB
Tags	Source
SHA-256 checksum How to use checksums	`3f34994c7c7973cf8c300aafdc29d2e3e89fedf5d4d80896b5d88cc1fdd30ce9`
BLAKE2b-256 checksum How to use checksums	`e152a8444d7c2707d83ac35c4d0e9ffc3b9b8177ebe5558a6f75501ab0953beb`
Upload date	Jun 29, 2026
Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? What is trusted publishing?	Yes
Uploaded via	`twine/6.1.0 CPython/3.13.12`

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Identity

Publishing platform: GitHub Actions
Publishing repository: github.com/cihai/cihai
Publishing commit: github.com/cihai/cihai/tree/a9c23ff55c3fd54d928569fe618199f30b9d8b2f

Workflow

Publishing configuration: github.com/cihai/cihai/blob/a9c23ff55c3fd54d928569fe618199f30b9d8b2f/.github/workflows/tests.yml
Publishing logs: github.com/cihai/cihai/actions/runs/28345210589/attempts/1

Artifact

Subject: cihai-0.38.0.tar.gz
SHA-256 checksum: 3f34994c7c7973cf8c300aafdc29d2e3e89fedf5d4d80896b5d88cc1fdd30ce9 Verifying attestations

Release files / cihai-0.38.0-py3-none-any.whl

Download URL	cihai-0.38.0-py3-none-any.whl
Size	25.3 kB
Tags	Python 3
SHA-256 checksum How to use checksums	`94fc953ca66681bcbbf8361d7b7b0015d35c5186a10ce4a27f4dbbbdfd169638`
BLAKE2b-256 checksum How to use checksums	`7c18c994464304341054c7a7dffd62085e91c635df39fe5d3addcdf113db0734`
Upload date	Jun 29, 2026
Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? What is trusted publishing?	Yes
Uploaded via	`twine/6.1.0 CPython/3.13.12`

Provenance

Identity

Publishing platform: GitHub Actions
Publishing repository: github.com/cihai/cihai
Publishing commit: github.com/cihai/cihai/tree/a9c23ff55c3fd54d928569fe618199f30b9d8b2f

Workflow

Publishing configuration: github.com/cihai/cihai/blob/a9c23ff55c3fd54d928569fe618199f30b9d8b2f/.github/workflows/tests.yml
Publishing logs: github.com/cihai/cihai/actions/runs/28345210589/attempts/1

Artifact

Subject: cihai-0.38.0-py3-none-any.whl
SHA-256 checksum: 94fc953ca66681bcbbf8361d7b7b0015d35c5186a10ce4a27f4dbbbdfd169638 Verifying attestations