Meaning of the Idiom
bao xin jiu huo（to add insult to injury/to add fuel to the fire）
In the last years of the Warring States period (475-221BC), the State of Qin attacked the State of Wei on a large scale repeatedly and occupied large areas of land, for the State of Wei was too weak to defend itself.
In 273 BC, the Qin army launched another attack upon the State of Wei with a momentum more vigorous than ever. The king of the State of Wei summoned his officials, and asked with a worried look if anyone could propose a way to defeat the Qin army.
After years of chaos caused by the wars, the officials trembled when fighting was mentioned, and no one dared to speak of “resistance”.
At the critical moment when a large enemy force was approaching the border, most of the officials persuaded the king to sue for peace, at the cost of giving away to the State of Qin the large area of land north of the Huanghe River and south of the Taihang Mountain.
However Su Dai , a counsellor, did not agree. He hurried up to the king and said:” Your Majesty, they don’t think about the interests of the country at all. It is just because they are cowardly and afraid of death that they ask you to sue for peace by betraying the country. Of course you can temporarily satisfy the ambition of the king of the State of Qin is insatiably greedy. It will never stop assaulting us until our land is totally given away.”
Once there was a man whose house was on fire. People told him to put out the fire with water, but he would not listen. Instead, he carried a faggot to put out the fire, only to make the fire fiercer. That was because he didn’t know that, instead of putting out the fire, faggots could only make it burning more vigorously. Isn’t it equivalent to carrying faggots to put out a fire if you agree to sue for peace at the cost of the land of the State of Wei?”
Though Su Dai’s argument was very convincing, the king accepted the suggestion of those officials and gave away to the State of Qin a large area of the land of the State of Wei.
The State of Wei was finally destroyed by the State of Qin. This story appears in the Historical Records Written by Sima Qian. The set phrase “carrying faggots to put out a fire” is used to mean adopting a wrong method to save a situation and ending up by making it worse.
抱薪救火
[bào xīn jiù huǒ]，指抱着柴火救火，比喻以错误的方法消除灾祸，结果反而使灾祸扩大。
出自西汉·司马迁《史记·魏世家》。
例句
你这种抱薪救火的教育方式，只会让孩子走向歪路。
我们做事要讲究方法，不能抱薪救火。
他们斗得这么激烈，是因为你那次调解不当，有如抱薪救火。
Reading The Paragraphs!
Meaning of Words
| 词语 | 华文解释 | 英文解释 |
|---|---|---|
| 空前 | 意思为前所未有。 例句：二战爆发后，法西斯主义横行，人类遭受着空前的危险。 | unprecedented |
| 愁眉苦脸 | 意思是指皱着眉头，哭丧着脸。形容愁苦的神色。 例句：既然你的经济问题已经得到解决，就没必要每天还愁眉苦脸的吧！ | to wear a sad face |
| 大兵压境 | 意思是大规模的军队临近边境，形容形势紧迫。 例句：眼看敌军大兵压境，很多有钱人都纷纷出逃他国。 | The army presses the border. |
| 不以为然 | 不认为是正确的。表示不同意或否定。 例句：我劝告他不要赌博，可他不以为然，不改恶习。 | disapprovingly |
| 卖国求和 | 指出卖国家的利益来求得和平。 例句：为了维护权贵的利益，这位首相不惜卖国求和，最终获得可耻的下场。 | Traitor to peace |
| 头头是道 | 多形容说话做事很有条理。 例句：看他说的头头是道，不知道做的怎么样。 | clear and logical |
Daily Language 