# beyond HSK and the Chinese Bible

> A reader at beyond HSK knows 22.5% of the word tokens in the Chinese Union Version.

| Level | Word tokens known |
| --- | --- |
| HSK 1 | 44.2% |
| HSK 2 | 53% |
| HSK 3 | 59.7% |
| HSK 4 | 63.2% |
| HSK 5 | 67.5% |
| HSK 6 | 71.4% |
| HSK 7-9 | 77.5% |

Not on any HSK list: 22.5% of word tokens.

## Books with the least unlisted vocabulary

| Book | Not in HSK | Distinct words |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 John | 11.7% | 395 |
| 2 John | 13.4% | 138 |
| 3 John | 15.2% | 160 |
| John | 16.5% | 1,647 |
| 2 Corinthians | 17.1% | 1,165 |
| 2 Thessalonians | 17.4% | 360 |
| James | 18% | 707 |
| 1 Corinthians | 18.5% | 1,453 |
| Job | 18.6% | 2,722 |
| Mark | 18.6% | 1,933 |

Page: https://chinese-bible.com/en/reference/hsk/beyond

## Method

- Text: 和合本 (Chinese Union Version), simplified script — public domain
- Words: forward maximum matching against CC-CEDICT (this site's own segmentation)
- HSK levels: HSK 3.0 levels from the complete-hsk-vocabulary list; band 7 covers HSK 7-9
- Reading times: 260 characters a minute (an assumption)
- Computed: 2026-09-22

These are reproducible counts over a public-domain text, not a peer-reviewed study. Difficulty ranks are one stated formula, not a validated readability score.


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- Definitions: CC-CEDICT, licensed CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).
- If you share this file onward, keep this notice and share alike.
- Character data: Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License / LGPL).
- Bible text: public domain — 和合本 · World English Bible · Louis Segond 1910.
- Built with https://chinese-bible.com