What does "qiong zhu nan shu" (too numerous to record) mean? A detailed explanation of this idiom's meaning
"Qiong zhu nan shu" means that even if all the bamboo were used up, it still could not be written out; it is a metaphor for facts (mostly crimes) being so numerous that it is hard to finish describing them. It comes from the "Lüshi Chunqiu": "As for the things produced by a chaotic state, even using all the bamboo of Jing and Yue, it still could not be written down." and from the "Book of Han - Biography of Gongsun He": "The bamboo of the southern mountains is not enough to receive my words, the wood of Xie Valley is not enough to make my instruments." Now let us take a look together at what "qiong zhu nan shu" means!
The origin of "qiong zhu nan shu"
"Qiong zhu nan shu" first appeared in the "Lüshi Chunqiu": "As for the things produced by a chaotic state, even using all the bamboo of Jing and Yue, it still could not be written down." and in the "Book of Han - Biography of Gongsun He": "The bamboo of the southern mountains is not enough to receive my words, the wood of Xie Valley is not enough to make my instruments." Both originally meant "the matters are so numerous that they cannot all be written down." Many people only know the "New Book of Tang - Biography of Li Mi": "During the Sui dynasty, Li Mi sent a proclamation to the commanderies and counties, enumerating Emperor Yang's ten crimes, saying: 'Using up the bamboo of the southern mountains, his crimes still cannot be fully written; breaching the waves of the Eastern Sea, his evil still cannot be fully washed away.'"
The meaning of "qiong zhu nan shu"
"Qiong" is also written as "qing"; its original meaning is that a vessel is empty, extended to mean exhausted or used up. "Zhu" means bamboo; the ancients wrote on bamboo slips, and bamboo was the material for making bamboo slips. The original meaning of "qiong zhu nan shu" is that even using up all the bamboo, it still cannot be fully written out, a metaphor for facts (mostly crimes) being so numerous that it is hard to finish describing them. Words with similar meanings include "shi e bu she" (guilty of unpardonable crimes), "zui da e ji" (of the most heinous crimes), and "zhuo fa nan shu" (too numerous to count); words with opposite meanings include "zhai xin ren hou" (kindhearted and benevolent), "feng gong wei ji" (great achievements and merits), "ju bu sheng ju" (too many to enumerate), and "bu ke sheng shu" (too many to count).
The allusion of "qiong zhu nan shu"
Li Mi was originally a guard of Yang Guang, Emperor Yang of Sui, and he was clever and nimble by nature. Once, while on duty, he was spotted by Emperor Yang of Sui for looking around, who thought he was not honest, and so dismissed Li Mi from his post. Li Mi was not discouraged; he resolved to accomplish something great, and from then on studied diligently.
Once, Li Mi was riding an ox in the street and hung the "Biography of Xiang Yu" on the ox's horn, seizing the time to read. It happened that the chancellor Yang Su saw him; Yang Su had a cordial talk with Li Mi and felt that he was a person of great ambition. When Yang Su returned home, he said to his son Yang Xuangan: "Li Mi is erudite and highly capable; in the future, if there is any important matter, you can discuss it with him." From then on, Yang Xuangan and Li Mi were good friends.
Later, Yang Xuangan raised troops to overthrow the rule of Emperor Yang of Sui, and invited Li Mi to serve as his strategist, but because Yang Xuangan was misled by others, he did not use Li Mi's plans at several critical moments, which ultimately led to his defeat and death. After Li Mi escaped danger, he continued to resist the Sui dynasty; he went to
join the Wagang peasant uprising army led by Zhai Rang, and with Li Mi's help, this uprising army achieved great victories in a very short time. Zhai Rang then took the initiative to yield the position of leader to Li Mi.
After Li Mi established his regime, when attacking Luoyang, Li Mi issued a proclamation against Emperor Yang of Sui, announcing that Emperor Yang of Sui had ten great crimes and calling on the people to rise up and overthrow Emperor Yang of Sui. Among it was: "Using up the bamboo of the southern mountains, his crimes still cannot be fully written; breaching the waves of the Eastern Sea, his evil still cannot be fully washed away." It means that even if all the bamboo of the southern mountains were made into bamboo slips, the crimes of Emperor Yang of Sui still could not be fully written; even if the dam of the Eastern Sea were breached and the vast seawater all flowed away, the evil deeds of Emperor Yang of Sui still would not be fully washed away.