To adopt a wrong method to deal with a dangerous situation, which only makes it worse; to add fuel to the flames.
Era:
Ancient
Frequency:
Story:
In the late Warring States period, the Qin state launched successive large-scale attacks on the Wei state. Wei was powerless to resist, and large tracts of its land were occupied by Qin forces. By 273 BCE, Qin once again sent troops to Wei, with unprecedented ferocity.
The King of Wei summoned his ministers, his face etched with worry, and asked if there was any way to make Qin withdraw its troops. Having endured years of war, the ministers trembled at the mention of battle, and none dared to speak of "resistance." In this critical moment, with a large army at their borders, most ministers advised the King of Wei to seek peace with the King of Qin, offering vast territories north of the Yellow River and south of the Taihang Mountains as a price.
The strategist Su Dai, displeased by these words, stepped forward and said to the King of Wei, "Your Majesty, they are simply cowardly and afraid of death, which is why they urge you to betray our country and seek peace. They have no regard for the state. Consider this: ceding vast territories to Qin might temporarily satisfy the King of Qin's ambition, but Qin's desires are endless. As long as Wei still possesses land, Qin's army will not cease its attacks on us."
At this point, Su Dai recounted a story: "Once upon a time, a man's house caught fire. Others advised him to quickly use water to extinguish the blaze, but he refused to listen. Instead, he picked up a bundle of firewood to put out the fire, simply because he didn't understand that firewood not only cannot extinguish a fire but can actually fuel it. If Your Majesty agrees to seek peace by ceding Wei's land, wouldn't that be like carrying firewood to put out a fire?"
Although Su Dai's arguments were compelling, the timid King of Wei only cared for immediate peace and still ceded large parts of Wei's territory to Qin, following his ministers' advice. Sure enough, by 225 BCE, the Qin army launched another major offensive against Wei, surrounding its capital, Daliang, and breaching the Yellow River levee to flood the city. Wei was ultimately destroyed by Qin.