He wanted to put out the fire by throwing wood on it. (抱薪救火)
During the late Warring States period in China, the Qin Kingdom became increasingly powerful. The King of Qin always wanted to expand his territory, so he always started wars against other kingdoms in China at that time.
The Qin army planned to attack the Wei. When the King of Wei heard the news, he wanted to cede land to the Qin in exchange for the Qin not sending troops.
A minister of the Wei Kingdom said to the King of the Wei Kingdom
Giving land to the Qin Kingdom in exchange for peace is a very dangerous act.
The Kingdom of Wei had limited land, but the Kingdom of Qin had no limits to its desire for aggression.
This solution is like a fireman throwing wood on a fire when the house is burning. The firefighter cannot extinguish the fire in such an unreasonable way.
It is a very simple truth that a fire cannot be put out unless all the wood is burned.
The Qin king's desire to occupy our land is like a raging fire.
Unless he occupies all of our land, his desire will never be extinguished.
That's why we shouldn't cede land in exchange for peace, but should do our best to resist his attacks.
The King of Wei did not accept this advice. He decided to cede land to Qin in exchange for a brief peace.
In the decades that followed, the Qin Kingdom continued to take territory from the Wei Kingdom, and the Wei Kingdom grew weaker and weaker. In 225 AD, the Qin Kingdom destroyed the Wei Kingdom.
The literal translation of this saying is that he wanted to put out the fire by throwing wood into the fire.
It is used to describe a person who tries to solve a problem in the wrong way, but whose behaviour makes the problem worse.
Dear friends, what inspiration or thoughts do you have after listening to this story?
What kind of difficulties are you facing in your life right now? What actions do you think you should take to really solve these difficulties?
I hope this story can give you some new insights.
抱薪救火(He wanted to put out the fire by
throwing wood on it.)
中國的戰國時代後期秦王國一天比一天強大，秦王國的國王一直想擴張領土於是他不斷對當時中國其它王國發動戰爭。
秦王國的軍隊計畫向魏王國發動攻擊，當魏王國的國王聽到這個消息後，他便想要直接割讓土地給秦王國以換取秦王國的不要出兵。
魏王國有一個大臣對魏王國的國王說。
割地土地給秦王國已換去和平是很危險的行為。
魏王國的土地有限而秦王國侵略的慾望沒有極限。
這個解決方案就好像當一間房子失火的時候消防員把木材丟到火場中，消防員無法用這種不合理的方式救火。
木材沒有燒光的話火就不可能會熄滅，這是一個非常簡單的道理。
秦王國的國王想要佔領我們的土地的慾望就像一場大火一樣。
除非他把我們國家的國土全部佔領，不然他的慾望就不可能會熄滅。
因此我們不應該割讓土地以換取和平，我們應該盡全力對抗他的攻擊。
魏王國的國王沒有採納這個意見，他還是決定割讓土地給秦王國以換取短暫的和平。
在以後的幾十年間，秦王國繼續不斷奪取魏王國的土地，魏王國也越來越弱小。西元225年，秦王國消滅魏王國。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是他想藉著把木材丟到火場的這種方式去救火。
這個成語被用來形容一個人用錯誤方法想要解決問題，但這個人的行為反而使問題變得更加嚴重。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或有怎樣的想法呢。
你的人生中目前遇到怎樣的困難嗎?你認為自己應該採取那些行動才可以真正解決這些困難呢?
我希望這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為戰國策-魏策3-華軍之戰
https://ctext.org/zhan-guo-ce/wei-san/zhs