Classic Books
About
Search and read classic books, world literature, and sacred religious texts across multiple sources. Supports Chinese classics (四书五经、四大名著、诸子百家) via Wikisource, Japanese literature via Aozora Bunko (青空文庫), Korean classics, daily Chinese poems, and free audiobooks from LibriVox. Mu
Details
- Author
- chenaisong
- Downloads
- 421
- Categories
- Other
Jump to
- Multi‑source search across six major libraries
- 12 tools: search, read, browse, recommend, and get poems/audiobooks
- Covers Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Western classics
- Includes sacred texts (Bible, Quran, Bhagavad Gita, etc.)
- Offers audiobook search via LibriVox
- Provides curated recommendations by theme
Setting up with Highlight
This MCP is not yet compatible with Highlight’s one-click setup. However, you can still use it with Highlight by following these steps:
- Download and install Highlight from highlightai.com/download
- Navigate to the plugins tab and select "Add Custom Plugin"
-
Configure the plugin with the settings below
Plugin Name
Classic BooksCommand (node, npx, python, etc.)Please refer to the README for specific instructions on how to obtain API keys or other required environment variables.
- Enable "Start Automatically" if you want the plugin to start when Highlight launches
From the repository
Connect any MCP client to the server and invoke one of its 12 built-in tools. For example, call search_chinese_classics("道德经") to find a Chinese classic, get_daily_poem() for a random poem, or search_audiobooks("Pride and Prejudice") to find audiobooks. No additional configuration is required beyond standard MCP integration.
search_books
Search for classic books, religious texts, and literature across multiple sources (Gutenberg, Wikisource, OpenLibrary, Sacred Texts). Default language is English.
get_chapter
Get chapter content from a book. Supports Gutenberg (id: 'gutenberg:1342') and Wikisource (id: 'wikisource:en:12345'). Use search_books to find IDs.
browse_religious_texts
Browse religious and philosophical classics catalog. Returns available texts by tradition.
search_audiobooks
Search for free audiobooks from LibriVox
recommend_classics
Get curated recommendations of classic books by theme. Default language is English.
search_chinese_classics
Search Chinese classical texts from Wikisource (zh.wikisource.org). Covers Four Books, Five Classics, histories, poetry, and the four great novels.
get_chinese_classic_chapter
Get content of a Chinese classic from Wikisource. Use id from search results OR pass ws_title from browse_chinese_classics (e.g. '論語', '道德經', '孫子兵法').
browse_chinese_classics
Browse curated catalog of Chinese classical texts. Each entry has a ws_title field (traditional Chinese) to use with get_chinese_classic_chapter.
get_daily_poem
Get a random classic Chinese poem with title, author, and content.
search_japanese_classics
Search Japanese classic literature from Aozora Bunko (青空文庫). Leave query empty to browse the built-in catalog.
get_japanese_classic_chapter
Get text content from Aozora Bunko. Use search_japanese_classics to find book IDs.
browse_korean_classics
Browse Korean classical literature catalog. Full text available via search_books with language='ko' on Wikisource.
Claude Desktop / Cursor
Paste into your MCP client config file to install this server.
{
"mcpServers": {
"classic books": {
"classic-books": {
"url": "https://classic-books-mcp.chensong8804.workers.dev/mcp"
}
}
}
}McpServers
{
"classic-books": {
"url": "https://classic-books-mcp.chensong8804.workers.dev/mcp"
}
}Classic Books & Sacred Texts is a free MCP server that lets AI assistants search and read classic literature, philosophy, and sacred texts from around the world.
Data Sources
Project Gutenberg — 70,000+ free classic books in multiple languages
Wikisource — Multilingual wiki library (en/zh/ja/ko and more)
OpenLibrary — Internet Archive's book catalog
Aozora Bunko (青空文庫) — 17,000+ Japanese classic works
LibriVox — Free public domain audiobooks
jinrishici (今日诗词) — Random classic Chinese poem API
Coverage
Chinese Classics 中文典籍
Four Books & Five Classics (论语、道德经、易经、诗经...), Pre-Qin philosophy (诸子百家), official histories (史记、汉书、资治通鉴), and the Four Great Novels (红楼梦、三国演义、水浒传、西游记).
Japanese Literature 日本文学
Heian classics (源氏物語、枕草子), Edo period (奥の細道), Meiji to Showa era masterworks by Natsume Soseki, Akutagawa, Dazai, Kawabata and more.
Korean Classics 한국 고전
Samguk Yusa, Chunhyangjeon, Hong Gildong and other major Korean classical works via Wikisource.
World Literature & Religion
Western classics via Gutenberg (Homer, Shakespeare, Tolstoy...), sacred texts (Bible, Quran, Bhagavad Gita, Dhammapada, Tao Te Ching, The Analects), and audiobooks via LibriVox.
Tools (12)
ToolDescriptionsearch_booksMulti-source search across Gutenberg, Wikisource, OpenLibraryget_chapterRead chapter content by book IDsearch_chinese_classicsSearch Chinese classics on zh.wikisource.orgget_chinese_classic_chapterGet full text by ws_title or page IDbrowse_chinese_classicsBrowse curated catalog (philosophy/history/poetry/novels)get_daily_poemRandom classic Chinese poemsearch_japanese_classicsSearch Aozora Bunko or browse by eraget_japanese_classic_chapterGet Japanese classic text (Shift-JIS decoded)browse_korean_classicsBrowse Korean classical literature catalogbrowse_religious_textsBrowse sacred texts by traditionsearch_audiobooksSearch free audiobooks on LibriVoxrecommend_classicsCurated recommendations by theme
Usage Example
// Search for a Chinese classic
search_chinese_classics("道德经")
// Read directly by traditional title
get_chinese_classic_chapter(ws_title: "道德經")
// Get a random poem
get_daily_poem()
// Search Japanese literature by era
search_japanese_classics(era: "明治")
// Find audiobooks
search_audiobooks("Pride and Prejudice")
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