Idiom Explanation:
It is difficult to finish writing with all the bamboo. It means that the number of crimes committed is too many to be written down.
Pronunciation:
罄竹难书
qìng zhú nán shū
Origin book:
《吕氏春秋·明理》：此皆乱国之所生也，不能胜数，尽荆越之竹犹不能书。
Origin Story:
The brutal rule of Yang Guang, the Emperor of Sui, led to chaos, disintegration and peasant uprisings in China. After Li Yuan rose to power in Taiyuan, he appointed himself as the general and attacked the Sui army aggressively. At this time, Turkic power was very strong, and Li Yuan was worried that Turkic power would be bad for him, but he also wanted to borrow their horses, so he followed the advice of others and negotiated peace with the Turkic Shi Bi Khan. Eventually, the two sides agreed: “If we get into Chang’an, the people’s land will go to Tang, and the gold and jade will go to the Turks.”
In order to win the hearts of the people, Li Yuan also opened granaries to relieve the victims, and took the opportunity to recruit volunteer soldiers. However, these volunteers were all rabble, without review and practice, so leading them to war was very hard. At this time, Li Mi, one of the leaders of the Wagang peasant army, had great power in what is now the eastern part of Henan Province, and published a famous article denouncing Emperor Yang of Sui, in which the famous lines were “Even if we use the bamboo of the South Mountain to make a brief policy, we cannot finish writing the sins of Emperor Yang of Sui; even if we use the huge water of the East Sea, we cannot wash the sins of Emperor Yang of Sui.” In the future, we described the number of sins that could not be written, and called it “it is difficult to write all the bamboo”, which is the origin of this idiom.
When this article was published, it immediately caused a sensation in the whole country, and people spread it among themselves, and Li Mi’s power became even greater.
Similar Idioms:
- 罪大恶极
