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罄竹難書

简罄竹难书 · 繁罄竹難書

Mandarin · pinyin qìng zhú nán shū

(lit.) too numerous to record on bamboo slips (idiom)
(fig.) (of crimes or misdeeds) innumerable; beyond counting

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Characters in this entry

罄: qìng · exhaust, run out, use up; empty
竹: zhú · bamboo; flute; Kangxi radical 118
難: Look up this written character
書: Look up this written character
难: nán · difficult, arduous, hard; unable
书: shū · book, letter, document; writings

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–2–2–1 · qing4 zhu2 nan2 shu1

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

罄竹難書 · find source passages ↗ · 罄竹难书 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hing3 zuk1 naan4 syu1

Cantonese word readings for 罄竹難書. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(of crimes) to be innumerable

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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