to cut one's hair short and tattoo the body; refers to the ancient customs of the Wu and Yue peoples, often used in literary contexts to describe uncivilized or barbarous ways

Describes the custom of letting one's hair hang loose and tattooing the body, originally referring to the ancient people of the Wu and Yue regions; also used more broadly to refer to the customs of undeveloped or people from uncivilized areas

to have one's hair hanging loose and one's body tattooed, a phrase historically used by people in central China to describe those they considered uncivilized or tribal