Please read these Terms in full before using the Service, in particular the sections on the nature of the works, disclaimers and limitation of liability, and dispute resolution. By registering an account or using the Service, you confirm that you have read and agree to these Terms.
1. Scope
These Terms form an agreement between you and the operator of the Service ("we", "us", "our").
They apply to the following (together, the "Service"):
- the Shansu Fiction website at books.shansu.com;
- the Shansu Fiction app (iOS and Android).
2. The Service
The Service is an online platform for reading Chinese-language fiction. The works fall into three categories, and we label the category of each work on its book page:
- Classical originals: public-domain classical Chinese novels, presented after editing, proofreading and division into chapters;
- Modern web-fiction adaptations: retellings based on those public-domain classical works, rewritten in the style of modern web fiction for contemporary readers while staying as faithful as reasonably possible to the original story, characters and plot. Such works share the title of the classical original and are labelled "Shansu Web Fiction" on the book page;
- Original web fiction: original novels submitted by contracted authors through the author area.
The app additionally lets you open local TXT files stored on your own device and read them using our typesetting, paging and colour-scheme features. The app does not support importing third-party book sources and does not crawl works from sites other than ours.
We may add, change or discontinue features at any time. Significant changes will be announced on the site or through in-app notices.
3. Accounts
- You must register with a valid email address and complete verification using the code sent to that address.
- The Service is intended only for users aged 18 or over. Some of the classical works on the site contain adult themes. If you are under 18, you may not register for or use the Service.
- You are responsible for keeping your account and password secure and for all activity under your account. Notify us immediately if you believe your account has been compromised.
- One person may hold one account. Accounts may not be rented, lent, transferred or sold.
- You may close your account at any time through your account settings. After closure we will handle your personal data in accordance with the Privacy Policy, and any unspent virtual currency balance will lapse.
4. About the Works (Important)
This section covers what distinguishes the Service from an ordinary reading platform. Please read it carefully.
- "Shansu Web Fiction" is not the original text. A work with this label shares its title with a classical original and draws on the same story, and is written with the aim of staying faithful to the original’s intent, but the text has been rewritten and may differ from the original in the selection of episodes, in dialogue and in wording. It is not a substitute for the original and should not be used for academic citation, textual research, teaching, or any purpose that depends on the accuracy of the original text. If you want to read the original, choose the version labelled as a classical original.
- Technology assistance and labelling. Some works on the site were produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence during rewriting or creation, and we label such works on the relevant book page. These works may contain factual errors, inconsistencies, repeated plot elements or unnatural phrasing.
- No warranty of accuracy. The works on the site are for leisure reading only. We make no warranty as to their accuracy, completeness, timeliness or fitness for any particular purpose. You should not rely on any of the content as medical, legal, financial or other professional advice.
- Rights. The classical original texts are in the public domain. We hold the corresponding rights in our own rewriting, arrangement, editing and proofreading of "Shansu Web Fiction" works. Copyright in original web fiction remains with the submitting author, and we use it within the Service under the terms of submission. As for content that includes AI-assisted material, we recognise that the law in some countries and regions is unsettled as to its copyright status, and we make no claim about that status beyond what the law provides.
- Whatever the category of a work, your use of it is subject to Section 8 of these Terms.
5. User Content
"User Content" means any text, images or other material you submit to the Service, including through comments, feedback messages and author-area submissions.
- You warrant that you hold the necessary rights in the content you submit and that it does not infringe any third party’s copyright, trade mark, reputation, privacy or other rights.
- By submitting User Content you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, sub-licensable licence to store, display, reproduce, adapt and distribute that content for the purpose of providing and promoting the Service. The licence ends when you delete the content or close your account, except for copies already distributed in the ordinary course and backups retained as required by law.
- You must not post: content that breaks applicable law; obscene, pornographic or gratuitously violent content; content that insults, defames or harasses others; content that infringes intellectual property rights; advertising or spam; malware or phishing links.
- We may, but are not obliged to, review User Content. We may hide or remove content that breaches these Terms without prior notice, and may suspend or terminate the account involved depending on the seriousness of the breach.
- You retain copyright in works submitted through the author area. You warrant that such works are original and are responsible for any infringement claims arising from them.
6. Payments and Virtual Currency
- Some chapters may be paid chapters. To access them you first top up the in-service virtual currency and then use it to unlock the content.
- The virtual currency is a unit of account within the Service. It is not money or a prepaid instrument, and cannot be withdrawn, transferred or exchanged for legal tender, nor used outside the Service.
- Top-ups are made through official in-app purchase channels such as the App Store and Google Play, or through third-party payment channels. Crediting times depend on the channel concerned.
- Refunds: for purchases made through the App Store or Google Play, refunds are governed by Apple’s or Google’s own refund policies and must be requested directly from the relevant platform; we cannot accept or process such refunds on their behalf. Virtual currency is non-reversible once spent, and unspent balances are non-refundable except where the law requires otherwise.
- We may adjust the pricing of works or the exchange rate of the virtual currency. Adjustments do not affect transactions you have already completed.
- If we discontinue the Service, we will publish a separate notice explaining how unspent balances will be handled.
7. Intellectual Property
- The classical Chinese novels on the site are in the public domain, and we claim no copyright in those original texts themselves. Anyone is free to use them as the law allows.
- We hold the corresponding rights in our own investment in editing, proofreading, chapter division, annotation, synopsis writing, page design, software code, trade marks and logos.
- The "Shansu Fiction" name and logo belong to us and may not be used without written permission.
- If you believe that any content on the Service infringes your rights, please tell us through the feedback function on the site, providing proof of ownership, the location of the infringing content, and a means of replying to you. We will look into it and act promptly once verified.
8. Prohibited Conduct
When using the Service, you must not:
- use crawlers, scripts or other automated means to harvest, download or copy content from the site in bulk;
- bypass, break or attempt to circumvent rate limits, identity checks or other technical protection measures;
- republish, mirror, compile or commercially exploit content from the site without permission;
- reverse engineer or decompile the Service, or interfere with its normal operation;
- use the Service for any unlawful activity or any activity that harms the rights of others.
To keep the Service stable and its content secure, we apply technical rate limits and may block abnormal access.
9. Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability
- The Service is provided "as is". To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that it will meet your particular requirements.
- We are not liable for suspensions caused by network failures, system maintenance, force majeure or interruptions to third-party services, though we will make reasonable efforts to restore the Service promptly.
- To the fullest extent permitted by law, our total liability to you will not exceed the amount you actually paid us for the Service in the twelve months before the event giving rise to the liability.
- Nothing in this section excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including liability for fraud or for death or personal injury caused by our negligence.
10. Suspension and Termination
If you seriously breach these Terms, we may suspend or terminate your access to the Service after notice; where the situation is urgent or the breach is plainly unlawful, we may act first and notify you afterwards. You may stop using the Service and close your account at any time.
11. Governing Law and Disputes
These Terms, and their formation, validity, interpretation and any dispute arising from them, are governed by the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. The parties should first try to resolve any dispute amicably; failing that, either party may bring proceedings before a court of competent jurisdiction in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
12. Changes to These Terms
We may revise these Terms from time to time. The revised version will be published on this page with an updated date. Significant changes affecting your rights or obligations will be announced on the site or through in-app notices. If you continue to use the Service after a change is published, you are taken to have accepted the revised Terms; if you do not agree, please stop using the Service, and you may close your account.
For matters relating to personal data, please see the Privacy Policy.