iacore
7e8ba4b291
pptx-translate, chinese-text-normalize, dharma-translation: canonical location now ./skills/ with symlinks in ~/.hermes/skills/. translation-review: merged CSV/XLSX review + .dj comparison workflows into single SKILL.md. Added buddhist-terminology.md and terms-db-alignment.md references from Hermes version.
76 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
76 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
---
|
|
name: dharma-translation
|
|
description: Translate Chinese Buddhist Dharma talks into English djot with annotations. Use when the user asks to translate a Dharma talk, 开示, Buddhist lecture, or similar material from Chinese to English.
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
# Dharma Talk Translation
|
|
|
|
## Trigger
|
|
|
|
User asks to translate a Chinese Buddhist Dharma talk (开示, 讲座, 法义) to English, or convert a PDF of such material into a translated djot file.
|
|
|
|
## Workflow
|
|
|
|
### 1. Extract source text from PDF
|
|
|
|
Prefer `pdftotext -layout` — it's the most reliable fallback and almost always available:
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
pdftotext -layout input.pdf /tmp/extracted.txt
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
pypdf and pdfplumber may not be installed; pdftotext (poppler-utils) is the safe default.
|
|
|
|
### 2. Convert to structured djot
|
|
|
|
Clean the extracted text into a djot file (`original.dj`) with this structure:
|
|
|
|
- `# Title` — h1, the talk title
|
|
- Subtitle line — date and venue, prefixed with `——`
|
|
- Opening remarks — body paragraphs before the first section
|
|
- `## 一、Section Name` — h2 for each numbered section (一、二、三、etc.)
|
|
- Closing line — revision date in parentheses
|
|
|
|
Strip page numbers (standalone digits separated by form feeds `\f`). Join broken lines within paragraphs — Chinese text joins cleanly with `''.join()` since there are no inter-word spaces.
|
|
|
|
### 3. Translate
|
|
|
|
Translate directly — no external translation APIs. The model IS the translator.
|
|
|
|
Key approach:
|
|
- Preserve the djot structure exactly (headings, paragraphs)
|
|
- Translate section headings preserving the Chinese numbering (一、→ 1., 二、→ 2., etc.)
|
|
- Keep the original Chinese in `%` comment lines alongside the translation (see annotations below)
|
|
|
|
### 4. Annotate in djot comments
|
|
|
|
Use `%` comment lines before relevant paragraphs to annotate:
|
|
|
|
- **Buddhist technical terms**: Sanskrit equivalents (e.g., 五蕴 → five aggregates / skandhas), doctrinal context
|
|
- **Cultural references**: Historical figures, place names, sutra names with explanation
|
|
- **Structural notes**: Why the speaker frames something a certain way, organizational philosophy
|
|
- **Recurring metaphors**: The McDonald's analogy throughout, the lamp/light metaphor
|
|
|
|
Format:
|
|
```
|
|
% Chinese term (pinyin) = English gloss, Sanskrit if applicable. Brief context.
|
|
Paragraph text here...
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
For sutra quotes, annotate the sutra name with both Chinese and Sanskrit.
|
|
For organizational terms (传帮带, 分灯, 三种精神), explain their meaning within the community's framework.
|
|
|
|
### 5. Output files
|
|
|
|
- `original.dj` — cleaned Chinese djot
|
|
- `translated.dj` — English translation with `%` annotations
|
|
|
|
## Pitfalls
|
|
|
|
- Do NOT call external translation APIs. Translate directly.
|
|
- Do NOT delete comparison/对照 files — they are intentional work artifacts.
|
|
- pdftotext may produce hard line breaks at column boundaries; join within paragraphs using `''.join()` for Chinese.
|
|
- Page numbers appear as isolated digits between form feeds (`\f`); strip them with regex.
|
|
- Djot `%` comments work line-by-line; place them on their own lines before the relevant paragraph.
|
|
- Keep annotations concise — one or two lines, not an essay.
|