抱薪救火

Chinese

			fuel; salary	to fight a fire; to try to extinguish a fire
trad. (抱薪救火)		抱	薪	救火
simp. #(抱薪救火)		抱	薪	救火
alternative forms		抱薪救焚 負薪救火／负薪救火
Literally: “to carry firewood to put out a fire”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bàoxīn-jiùhuǒ

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄠˋ ㄒㄧㄣ ㄐㄧㄡˋ ㄏㄨㄛˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): pou⁵ san¹ gau³ fo²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bàoxīn-jiùhuǒ
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄠˋ ㄒㄧㄣ ㄐㄧㄡˋ ㄏㄨㄛˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bàosinjiòuhuǒ
    • Wade–Giles: pao⁴-hsin¹-chiu⁴-huo³
    • Yale: bàu-syīn-jyòu-hwǒ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bawshinjiowhuoo
    • Palladius: баосиньцзюхо (baosinʹczjuxo)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɑʊ̯⁵¹ ɕin⁵⁵ t͡ɕi̯oʊ̯⁵¹ xu̯ɔ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: pou⁵ san¹ gau³ fo²
    • Yale: póuh sān gau fó
    • Cantonese Pinyin: pou⁵ san¹ gau³ fo²
    • Guangdong Romanization: pou⁵ sen¹ geo³ fo²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰou̯¹³ sɐn⁵⁵ kɐu̯³³ fɔː³⁵/

Idiom

抱薪救火

1. to adopt a wrong method to save a situation and end up by making it worse

   • 止言以言，止事以事，譬猶揚堁而弭塵，抱薪而救火。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     止言以言，止事以事，譬犹扬堁而弭尘，抱薪而救火。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Huainanzi, 2^nd century BCE

     Zhǐ yán yǐ yán, zhǐ shì yǐ shì, pì yóu yáng kè ér mǐ chén, bào xīn ér jiùhuǒ. [Pinyin]

     Use words to stop other people's gossip, and use actions to quell troubles, just like raising dust to quell it, or carrying firewood to put out a fire.

   • 且夫以地事秦譬猶抱薪救火，薪不盡，火不滅。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     且夫以地事秦譬犹抱薪救火，薪不尽，火不灭。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE

     Qiě fú yǐ dì shì Qín pì yóu bàoxīnjiùhuǒ, xīn bùjìn, huǒ bùmiè. [Pinyin]

     Moreover, ceding land to Qin is like carrying firewood to put out a fire. The fire will not go out until the firewood is burned out.

Synonyms

• 火上澆油 / 火上浇油 (huǒshàngjiāoyóu)

References

• “抱薪救火”, in 重編國語辭典修訂本 [Revised Mandarin Chinese Dictionary] (in Chinese), National Academy for Educational Research (Taiwan), 2021.