饮鸩止渴 — “Drink poison to quench thirst”

The idiom "Yǐn Zhèn Zhǐ Kě" (饮鸩止渴) originates from "The Biography of Huo Xu" in Volume 48 of "Book of the Later Han" by Fan Ye during the Southern Song Dynasty.

The text states: "Guang, a descendant of an official family, had an easy path, reached the highest positions in prefectures and counties, and was always expected to be summoned for greater office. He had no taint of wrongdoing. Why would he arbitrarily revise an imperial edict? What would he gain? If there were doubts, he should have sought a safe solution. How could he risk certain death to solve a minor issue? It is like curing hunger with aconite or quenching thirst with the poison from a mythical zhen bird; one would die before it even reaches the stomach, let alone solve the problem! How could such a thing be done?"

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, someone falsely accused Song Guang, Huo Xu's maternal uncle, before General Liang Shang, claiming he privately altered an imperial edict. As a result, Song Guang was imprisoned.

At that time, Huo Xu, who was only fifteen years old, submitted a memorial to Liang Shang to defend his uncle. The memorial stated: "Guang, having held the highest position of a provincial governor, has always been upright and law-abiding, without the slightest fault. Even if he had doubts about an imperial edict, he would never dare to risk death by altering it without authorization. This would be like a person trying to satisfy hunger with poisonous herbs, or trying to quench thirst by drinking poisonous wine. The moment it touches the lips, before it even enters the stomach, one would already be dead. How could such a thing be done?"

After reading the memorial, Liang Shang found it very reasonable and presented it to the emperor. Soon after, Song Guang was acquitted and released.