diff --git a/.unipi/docs/fix/2026-06-04-language-route-short-codes-fix.md b/.unipi/docs/fix/2026-06-04-language-route-short-codes-fix.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2de1f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.unipi/docs/fix/2026-06-04-language-route-short-codes-fix.md
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+---
+title: "Language route prefixes — short ISO codes with legacy redirects"
+type: quick-fix
+date: 2026-06-04
+---
+
+# Language route prefixes — short ISO codes with legacy redirects
+
+## Bug
+Localized URLs used full English names (`/chinese`, `/japanese`, `/korean`, `/vietnamese`, `/indonesian`, `/malay`). Per the broadcast in WeChat (screenshot), they need to be short ISO-style codes (`/cn`, `/ja`, `/ko`, `/vi`, `/id`, `/ms`).
+
+## Root Cause
+The mapping is sourced from one place — `src/languageRoutes.ts` `localizedHomeRoutes` — and that array hard-coded the long names.
+
+## Fix
+- Rename every localized prefix in `localizedHomeRoutes` to its short code.
+- Add `legacyLanguageRedirects` (the old → new map) and render client redirects in `App.tsx` so links previously shared (`/chinese`, `/malay/browse?post=42`, etc.) keep landing on the right destination. The redirect preserves sub-path, query string, and hash.
+- Refresh doc-comment examples (`/malay/...`) in unrelated files so future readers don't get confused.
+- Update `languageRoutes.test.ts` to assert the new mapping.
+
+### Files Modified
+- `src/languageRoutes.ts` — paths swapped to short codes; added `legacyLanguageRedirects`; refreshed doc-comment examples.
+- `src/languageRoutes.test.ts` — expectations updated to short codes; test description renamed accordingly.
+- `src/App.tsx` — added `LegacyLangRedirect` component (uses `useParams`/`useLocation`) and rendered `<Route>` pairs (`/old` and `/old/*`) for each entry in `legacyLanguageRedirects`.
+- `src/i18n.tsx`, `src/components/FigmaBanner.tsx`, `src/layouts/PublicLayout.tsx`, `src/useLocalizedPath.ts` — doc-comment example paths updated for consistency.
+
+## Verification
+- `npx tsc --noEmit` — clean.
+- `npm run format` then `npm run format:check` — clean.
+- `npm test` — 49/49 passing (includes the updated `languageRoutes.test.ts`).
+- Expected runtime behavior:
+  - `/cn`, `/ja`, `/ko`, `/vi`, `/id`, `/ms` (and their nested routes) resolve to localized pages.
+  - `/chinese`, `/japanese`, `/korean`, `/vietnamese`, `/indonesian`, `/malay` (and their nested routes) redirect via React Router `<Navigate replace />` to the new short-code equivalents, preserving `?query` and `#hash`.
+
+## Notes
+- Server-side considerations: this works for SPA navigation because BrowserRouter handles all paths client-side. Any reverse-proxy/CDN rule that hardcoded the long names should be reviewed (e.g. nginx rewrites, prerender configs). The `nginx.conf` and Gitea deploy workflow only reference `index.html`, so no server-side path rules to update here.
+- If the SEO sitemap / canonical URLs are generated elsewhere, those should also pick up the new prefixes.
+- `legacyLanguageRedirects` is intentionally kept distinct from `localizedHomeRoutes` so we can sunset it later by deleting the export and the corresponding routes block in `App.tsx`.
diff --git a/src/App.tsx b/src/App.tsx
index 0141b7a..0c122c8 100644
--- a/src/App.tsx
+++ b/src/App.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,11 @@
-import { BrowserRouter, Navigate, Route, Routes } from "react-router-dom";
+import {
+  BrowserRouter,
+  Navigate,
+  Route,
+  Routes,
+  useLocation,
+  useParams,
+} from "react-router-dom";
 import { I18nProvider } from "./i18n";
 import { MotionProvider } from "./motion";
 import { ToastProvider } from "./components/Toast";
@@ -19,7 +26,20 @@ import { AdminRouteTree } from "./adminRouteTree";
 import { AdminRouterModeProvider } from "./adminRouterMode";
 import { ImageLightboxProvider } from "./components/messageStream/overlays/ImageLightbox";
 import { VideoPlayerProvider } from "./components/messageStream/overlays/VideoPlayer";
-import { localizedHomeRoutes } from "./languageRoutes";
+import { legacyLanguageRedirects, localizedHomeRoutes } from "./languageRoutes";
+
+/**
+ * Redirects shared links that still use the old long-form language prefix
+ * (e.g. /chinese, /malay/browse) to the new short codes (/cn, /ms/browse).
+ * Preserves the sub-path, query string, and hash.
+ */
+function LegacyLangRedirect({ to }: { to: string }) {
+  const params = useParams();
+  const { search, hash } = useLocation();
+  const splat = params["*"];
+  const sub = splat ? `/${splat}` : "";
+  return <Navigate to={`${to}${sub}${search}${hash}`} replace />;
+}
 
 const adminEnabled = import.meta.env.VITE_DISABLE_ADMIN !== "true";
 
@@ -94,6 +114,21 @@ export default function App() {
                           ))}
                         </Route>
 
+                        {/* Legacy long-form language URLs → short-code
+                            redirects. Shared links (e.g. WeChat) keep working. */}
+                        {legacyLanguageRedirects.map((redirect) => (
+                          <Route key={redirect.from}>
+                            <Route
+                              path={redirect.from}
+                              element={<LegacyLangRedirect to={redirect.to} />}
+                            />
+                            <Route
+                              path={`${redirect.from}/*`}
+                              element={<LegacyLangRedirect to={redirect.to} />}
+                            />
+                          </Route>
+                        ))}
+
                         {adminEnabled ? (
                           AdminRouteTree()
                         ) : (
diff --git a/src/components/FigmaBanner.tsx b/src/components/FigmaBanner.tsx
index 19ebbbc..10532f5 100644
--- a/src/components/FigmaBanner.tsx
+++ b/src/components/FigmaBanner.tsx
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ function internalPath(linkUrl: string): string | null {
 /**
  * Banner link URLs are stored unprefixed (e.g. `/browse?post=123`). When the
  * viewer is on a non-English locale we must re-prefix them with the active
- * language path (`/malay/browse?post=123`) so navigation doesn't drop into
+ * language path (`/ms/browse?post=123`) so navigation doesn't drop into
  * the English version of the post.
  */
 function localizeLinkUrl(linkUrl: string, lang: Lang): string {
diff --git a/src/i18n.tsx b/src/i18n.tsx
index c3efa17..43ae6c1 100644
--- a/src/i18n.tsx
+++ b/src/i18n.tsx
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ export function I18nProvider({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
   const [lang, setLangState] = useState<Lang>(() => {
     const path = window.location.pathname;
     // Any URL whose first path segment is a known language prefix wins
-    // (covers /malay, /malay/browse, /korean/category/foo, etc.).
+    // (covers /ms, /ms/browse, /ko/category/foo, etc.).
     const homeLang = languageForHomePathname(path);
     if (homeLang) return homeLang;
     const deepLang = languageFromPathname(path);
diff --git a/src/languageRoutes.test.ts b/src/languageRoutes.test.ts
index 36bb616..be25719 100644
--- a/src/languageRoutes.test.ts
+++ b/src/languageRoutes.test.ts
@@ -7,16 +7,16 @@ import {
 } from "./languageRoutes";
 
 const expectedRoutes = [
-  ["/chinese", "zh-CN"],
-  ["/japanese", "ja"],
-  ["/korean", "ko"],
-  ["/vietnamese", "vi"],
-  ["/indonesian", "id"],
-  ["/malay", "ms"],
+  ["/cn", "zh-CN"],
+  ["/ja", "ja"],
+  ["/ko", "ko"],
+  ["/vi", "vi"],
+  ["/id", "id"],
+  ["/ms", "ms"],
 ] as const;
 
 describe("language home routes", () => {
-  it("uses CTO-style full language path names except default English root", () => {
+  it("uses short ISO-style language path codes except default English root", () => {
     expect(localizedHomeRoutes.map(({ path, lang }) => [path, lang])).toEqual(
       expectedRoutes,
     );
@@ -33,17 +33,17 @@ describe("language home routes", () => {
 
   it("treats root and localized language paths as home pages", () => {
     expect(isHomePathname("/")).toBe(true);
-    expect(isHomePathname("/chinese")).toBe(true);
+    expect(isHomePathname("/cn")).toBe(true);
     expect(isHomePathname("/browse")).toBe(false);
   });
 
   it("links each active language back to its localized home", () => {
     expect(homePathForLang("en")).toBe("/");
-    expect(homePathForLang("zh-CN")).toBe("/chinese");
-    expect(homePathForLang("ja")).toBe("/japanese");
-    expect(homePathForLang("ko")).toBe("/korean");
-    expect(homePathForLang("vi")).toBe("/vietnamese");
-    expect(homePathForLang("id")).toBe("/indonesian");
-    expect(homePathForLang("ms")).toBe("/malay");
+    expect(homePathForLang("zh-CN")).toBe("/cn");
+    expect(homePathForLang("ja")).toBe("/ja");
+    expect(homePathForLang("ko")).toBe("/ko");
+    expect(homePathForLang("vi")).toBe("/vi");
+    expect(homePathForLang("id")).toBe("/id");
+    expect(homePathForLang("ms")).toBe("/ms");
   });
 });
diff --git a/src/languageRoutes.ts b/src/languageRoutes.ts
index 106f730..1332b11 100644
--- a/src/languageRoutes.ts
+++ b/src/languageRoutes.ts
@@ -2,14 +2,31 @@ import type { Lang } from "./i18n";
 
 export const localizedHomeRoutes: ReadonlyArray<{ lang: Lang; path: string }> =
   [
-    { lang: "zh-CN", path: "/chinese" },
-    { lang: "ja", path: "/japanese" },
-    { lang: "ko", path: "/korean" },
-    { lang: "vi", path: "/vietnamese" },
-    { lang: "id", path: "/indonesian" },
-    { lang: "ms", path: "/malay" },
+    { lang: "zh-CN", path: "/cn" },
+    { lang: "ja", path: "/ja" },
+    { lang: "ko", path: "/ko" },
+    { lang: "vi", path: "/vi" },
+    { lang: "id", path: "/id" },
+    { lang: "ms", path: "/ms" },
   ];
 
+/**
+ * Legacy long-form language paths kept alive as 301-style client redirects so
+ * URLs shared before the short-code rename (e.g. WeChat broadcasts pointing to
+ * https://ark-library.com/chinese) still land on the right page.
+ */
+export const legacyLanguageRedirects: ReadonlyArray<{
+  from: string;
+  to: string;
+}> = [
+  { from: "/chinese", to: "/cn" },
+  { from: "/japanese", to: "/ja" },
+  { from: "/korean", to: "/ko" },
+  { from: "/vietnamese", to: "/vi" },
+  { from: "/indonesian", to: "/id" },
+  { from: "/malay", to: "/ms" },
+];
+
 function normalizePathname(pathname: string): string {
   const normalized = pathname.replace(/\/+$/, "");
   return normalized || "/";
@@ -34,7 +51,7 @@ export function homePathForLang(lang: Lang): string {
   return localizedHomeRoutes.find((route) => route.lang === lang)?.path ?? "/";
 }
 
-/** Returns the URL prefix for a language (e.g. "/malay"), or "" for English. */
+/** Returns the URL prefix for a language (e.g. "/ms"), or "" for English. */
 export function langPathPrefix(lang: Lang): string {
   if (lang === "en") return "";
   return localizedHomeRoutes.find((route) => route.lang === lang)?.path ?? "";
@@ -55,8 +72,8 @@ export function languageFromPathname(pathname: string): Lang {
  * Prepends a language prefix to a path. Path may include `?query` or `#hash`;
  * the prefix is inserted before the pathname only.
  *
- *   localizePath("/browse", "ms") -> "/malay/browse"
- *   localizePath("/", "ms")       -> "/malay"
+ *   localizePath("/browse", "ms") -> "/ms/browse"
+ *   localizePath("/", "ms")       -> "/ms"
  *   localizePath("/browse", "en") -> "/browse"
  */
 export function localizePath(path: string, lang: Lang): string {
@@ -71,9 +88,9 @@ export function localizePath(path: string, lang: Lang): string {
  * Removes any known language prefix from a pathname. Useful when comparing
  * the current route against canonical (unprefixed) paths.
  *
- *   stripLangPrefix("/malay/browse") -> "/browse"
- *   stripLangPrefix("/malay")        -> "/"
- *   stripLangPrefix("/browse")       -> "/browse"
+ *   stripLangPrefix("/ms/browse") -> "/browse"
+ *   stripLangPrefix("/ms")        -> "/"
+ *   stripLangPrefix("/browse")    -> "/browse"
  */
 export function stripLangPrefix(pathname: string): string {
   const normalized = normalizePathname(pathname);
diff --git a/src/layouts/PublicLayout.tsx b/src/layouts/PublicLayout.tsx
index f1c62bc..ca18d58 100644
--- a/src/layouts/PublicLayout.tsx
+++ b/src/layouts/PublicLayout.tsx
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ export function PublicLayout() {
   const nav = useNavigate();
   const lp = useLocalizedPath();
 
-  // Keep i18n state in sync with URL so deep links (`/malay/browse`) flip the
+  // Keep i18n state in sync with URL so deep links (`/ms/browse`) flip the
   // UI language even if the user navigated via address bar or shared link.
   useEffect(() => {
     const urlLang = languageFromPathname(pathname);
diff --git a/src/useLocalizedPath.ts b/src/useLocalizedPath.ts
index b145ffa..b94bb63 100644
--- a/src/useLocalizedPath.ts
+++ b/src/useLocalizedPath.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { localizePath } from "./languageRoutes";
 /**
  * Returns a stable `(path) => localized path` function bound to the current
  * UI language. Use this anywhere a `<Link to>` or `navigate()` target needs to
- * preserve the active language prefix (e.g. `/malay/browse`).
+ * preserve the active language prefix (e.g. `/ms/browse`).
  */
 export function useLocalizedPath() {
   const { lang } = useI18n();