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釜底抽薪 (fu3 di3 chou1 xin1) - Taking firewood from under pot
By Zhang Ciyun |
November 30, 2008, Sunday
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A very common challenge that most people will face at one time or another is how to find a fundamental solution to a lingering crisis or, in other words, how to remove the root cause of a problem.
If you ask the Chinese, they will tell you the best way to do this is to "take away the burning firewood from under the pot" or (fu3 di3 chou1 xin1). They have been using this tactic for more than 1,400 years.
Hou Jing was a good friend of Gao Huan, who was a high-ranking official in the court of the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 386-534). After the dynasty split into two states, namely the Eastern Wei and the Western Wei in AD 534, Gao became the ruler of the Eastern Wei. He gave his friend Hou 100,000 troops and asked him to govern Henan Province.
Hou respected Gao, but did not like his son, Gao Cheng. So, when Gao Huan died 14 years later and was succeeded by his son, Hou decided to rebel against the court. He first tried to seek support from the Western Wei, but failed because that ruler was suspicious of Hou's motives, since Hou had earned himself a reputation as a treacherous general.
Under the continuous offensives launched by the troops of Gao Cheng, Hou left Henan and surrendered to the emperor of the Liang Dynasty (AD 502-557) in the south. After learning about this, Gao Cheng sent a note to the emperor requesting Hou's extradition.
In the note, Gao Cheng told the emperor that Hou was a troublemaker and asked him to get rid of him.
"To stop the soup from boiling, you'd better take away the burning firewood from under the pot; and to remove weeds, you'd better destroy their roots," Gao added in the note.
However, the emperor rejected Gao's request because he was planning to take advantage of the "Hou Jing rebellion" to conquer the states in the north. Eventually, Hou betrayed the emperor and ruined his ambitious plan.
Today, whenever people believe that drastic measures must be taken to solve a thorny problem or to deal with a complicated situation, they will resort to the tactic of "taking away burning firewood from under the pot."
If you ask the Chinese, they will tell you the best way to do this is to "take away the burning firewood from under the pot" or (fu3 di3 chou1 xin1). They have been using this tactic for more than 1,400 years.
Hou Jing was a good friend of Gao Huan, who was a high-ranking official in the court of the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 386-534). After the dynasty split into two states, namely the Eastern Wei and the Western Wei in AD 534, Gao became the ruler of the Eastern Wei. He gave his friend Hou 100,000 troops and asked him to govern Henan Province.
Hou respected Gao, but did not like his son, Gao Cheng. So, when Gao Huan died 14 years later and was succeeded by his son, Hou decided to rebel against the court. He first tried to seek support from the Western Wei, but failed because that ruler was suspicious of Hou's motives, since Hou had earned himself a reputation as a treacherous general.
Under the continuous offensives launched by the troops of Gao Cheng, Hou left Henan and surrendered to the emperor of the Liang Dynasty (AD 502-557) in the south. After learning about this, Gao Cheng sent a note to the emperor requesting Hou's extradition.
In the note, Gao Cheng told the emperor that Hou was a troublemaker and asked him to get rid of him.
"To stop the soup from boiling, you'd better take away the burning firewood from under the pot; and to remove weeds, you'd better destroy their roots," Gao added in the note.
However, the emperor rejected Gao's request because he was planning to take advantage of the "Hou Jing rebellion" to conquer the states in the north. Eventually, Hou betrayed the emperor and ruined his ambitious plan.
Today, whenever people believe that drastic measures must be taken to solve a thorny problem or to deal with a complicated situation, they will resort to the tactic of "taking away burning firewood from under the pot."
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