📖 Meaning
To have one's merits recorded in the annals of history. It refers to achieving great deeds worthy of being remembered for generations. The phrase evokes the ancient practice of recording events on bamboo slips.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from a poem by the Tang dynasty poet Du Fu titled 'To Zheng Eighteen Ben,' which states that though the ancients have long passed, the green annals (qing shi) will never fade. The term 'qing shi' refers to bamboo slips used for record-keeping in ancient China, which retained their greenish hue, hence history came to be called 'green annals.' Over time, the idiom came to describe someone whose contributions are so significant that they are recorded in history books for posterity. It is prominently used in Luo Guanzhong's Ming dynasty novel 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms.'
💡 Example Usage
将军若能收复失地，必能功标青史，名垂千古。
If the general can reclaim the lost territories, his achievements will surely be recorded in history and remembered for all eternity.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 功标青史
- Pinyin: gōng biāo qīng shǐ
- Literal Translation: merit, record, green, history
- Category: Success
- Characters: 4