📖 Meaning
Literally meaning 'to exhaust the bamboo yet still be unable to finish writing,' this idiom describes crimes or misdeeds so numerous that they cannot all be recorded. It originally referred to using up all the bamboo slips (ancient writing material) and still not being able to finish cataloging someone's offenses. Today it is used to condemn extremely grave and extensive wrongdoing.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from a proclamation by Li Mi, a Sui Dynasty rebel leader, during the transition between the Sui and Tang dynasties. In denouncing the tyrannical reign of Emperor Yang of Sui, Li Mi wrote that even if one were to cut down all the bamboo of the Southern Mountain to make writing slips, the crimes could not be fully recorded, and even the waters of the Eastern Sea could not wash away the evil. The passage is recorded in the 'Old Book of Tang, Biography of Li Mi.' Over time, the phrase was condensed into the four-character idiom used today to describe innumerable crimes.
💡 Example Usage
这个贪官的罪行罄竹难书，百姓无不切齿痛恨。
The corrupt official's crimes were so numerous they could not all be recorded, and the people hated him to the core.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 罄竹难书
- Pinyin: qìng zhú nán shū
- Literal Translation: exhaust, bamboo, difficult, to write
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4