To describe numerous crimes, faults, or misdeeds that are impossible to count, likening them to the uncountable strands of hair one could pluck from a head.
Era:
Ancient
Frequency:
Story:
During the Warring States period, Fan Ju, a retainer of Wei statesman Xu Jia, accompanied Xu Jia on a visit to Qi, where he was praised by King Xiang of Qi.
Upon returning to Wei, Xu Jia reported this to Prime Minister Wei Qi, who then sought to kill Fan Ju. Fan Ju narrowly escaped death and fled to Qin, where he changed his name to Zhang Lu and became the Prime Minister.
Later, Xu Jia came to Qin to plead with Qin not to attack Wei. Xu Jia repented to Zhang Lu, saying that his own sins were too numerous to count, like trying to count every hair plucked from one's head (擢发难数).