In one sentence · 一句話

Everything you contribute to the library enters the open commons under CC BY-SA 4.0 - it can never be locked into any proprietary product. The library returns your contribution with transparent governance and a seal system of honour, and contributors who want to take part in the .com value-add services can earn real income.

Your contribution is legally protected as an always-open public asset. Commerce may happen only on top of it - as a service. The corpus itself stays free forever.

1 · Licence of your contribution · 進入 CC BY-SA

  1. Your translations, glossary entries, collations, corrections, and structured content are licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (ShareAlike).
  2. Meaning: anyone (including the .com layer or third parties) may use, modify, and redistribute your contribution - but derivatives must stay equally open. This is the legal guarantee that contributions can never be locked in.
  3. Public-domain classical texts themselves are not affected; the library only arranges them. The original text is not bound by this agreement.
  4. Tool scripts / code: MIT (contributing code means agreeing to MIT).

2 · The .com boundary · 什麼能收費

  1. Only the "service" may be charged for: your analysis, tools, courses, custom reports - original added value built on the corpus.
  2. The corpus itself may not be charged for: direct copying, repackaging, or re-layout of the original text or translations must remain free (a structural guarantee of CC BY-SA).
  3. The test line: a product that is mainly original interpretation with cited sources may be sold; a product that is mainly re-arranged corpus must be free.
  4. Worked examples of the test line:
    • May be sold: a paid course teaching how to read a BaZi chart, where the teaching (analysis, method, worked examples) is the product and the classical lines are quoted as sources — sold, with attribution.
    • May be sold: a custom one-to-one chart reading, or a structured reference tool you built (a calculator, a glossary app) — your added value is the product.
    • Must be free: a PDF that is essentially our translated corpus re-laid out with a cover, or a print-on-demand reprint of the classical text — that is the corpus itself, and it stays free (the ShareAlike guarantee).
    • Boundary case: a translation bundle with short introductory notes. The notes are yours and may be used commercially; the translations themselves remain CC BY-SA. If in doubt, keep the whole bundle free and sell a service around it instead.
  5. Commercial products that use the corpus must credit the source (the attribution requirement of CC BY-SA).

3 · Revenue transparency & earning · 收益透明與參與變現

  1. The .org commons are fully public: donations and expenses (servers / translation quality / completing classical texts / seal costs / reinvestment) are itemised and published monthly - every yuan of the public commons is visible.
  2. The .com layer is a commercial venture (accounts are not public): the business is the founding team's undertaking, and profits are not disclosed. We do not publish a reinvestment ratio or amount.
  3. Contributors who take part in .com value-add services can earn income: contributors who want to participate commercially (developing courses / assessment reports / custom services / tooling) are paid by contribution. You don't wait to see how much comes back - you join in and take a share.

4 · The seal system · 印章三階（銅 · 石 · 玉）

  1. Seals can only be earned, never bought. A customer is not a contributor; paying for a seal would devalue it and feel unfair.
  2. Criteria (transparent, verifiable):
    • 銅 · Copper (digital seal) - your first accepted contribution is issued automatically: a digital badge and your name lights up on the contributors wall.
    • 石 · Stone (carved seal) - a standing record of accepted, peer-reviewed contributions, issued as a physical carved seal in traditional seal stone, carved and mailed to you, plus wall honour (issued once a P2 supplier is confirmed).
    • 玉 · Jade (annual seal) - the annual award for long-term deep contribution or key roles, formally recorded in the CHANGELOG once a year (honour deserves ceremony).
  3. How "accepted" is decided (verifiable, not vibes):
    • Every contribution is recorded on the public contributions log (title, chapter, type, date, contributor, reviewer) before a seal can be issued.
    • A contribution is accepted when a named reviewer signs it off against the quality bar in §6 (source line, own translation, guidance-only) — the reviewer is recorded next to the contribution.
    • Disputes on acceptance go to the dispute channel in §5; the log is the single source of truth for seals.
  4. Numerical thresholds (how many accepted contributions earn Stone, what counts as "key role" for Jade) are deliberately left open here — they are set by the founding team when the first cohort of contributors is active, published on this page, and applied equally to everyone.
  5. Every seal is backed by the library's contribution records.
  6. A digital name seal (your name carved, PNG/SVG) comes with the Copper seal - use it on your profile, GitHub avatar, or email signature.

5 · Governance · 治理

  1. Contributors Stone and above: roadmap voting rights + priority channel.
  2. A public bounty board: translation / proofreading / structuring tasks open for claiming (from P2).
  3. Dispute channel: transparent statement + email contact (Discord community from P2).

6 · Red lines · 紅線

  1. Translations must be made from the classical original - never copied from modern English editions (Legge, Wilhelm, etc. are copyrighted). This is the project's credibility floor.
  2. Content never promises outcomes (guidance only; uniform disclaimer).
  3. Contributions must carry a source line (classical title + chapter + verification date).

7 · Withdrawal & deletion · 退出與刪除

  1. You may stop contributing at any time.
  2. Contributions already in the commons cannot be withdrawn (CC BY-SA is irrevocable - the other side of "never locked in").
  3. Your attribution / wall name / name seal may be removed on request (personal information), but already-published open content stays.

8 · Version & effect · 版本與生效

v0.2 (2026-08-19) — refined from the v0.1 draft with worked examples of the commercial test line and a verifiable "accepted contribution" process for seals; numerical seal thresholds remain to be set by the founding team once the first contributors are active. This agreement takes effect when you confirm it on your first contribution.

Want to start? See the Contribute page for the current proofreading tasks, how claiming works, and the contact address.