名留青史

名留青史 is a variant of the more standard 名垂青史 (míngchuíqīngshǐ). The image traces back to Du Fu's Tang poem 《赠郑十八贲》: '古人日以远, 青史字不泯' ('the ancients recede day by day, but their names on the green-bamboo histories never fade'). 青史 'green history' = old bamboo-strip chronicles.

memory

青史 literally means 'green history' — before paper, records were carved into green bamboo strips. So 名留青史 = 'name remains on the bamboo records'. Compare with the synonym 名垂青史 ('name hangs on the records') — both work.