📖 Meaning
A metaphor for courting one's own destruction. It depicts someone who recklessly creates the very conditions that will bring about their ruin, like stacking firewood and waiting for the flame that will consume it. The word 燎 refers to a blazing fire or torch.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from Yang Xuanzhi's 'Luoyang Qielan Ji' (Record of Buddhist Monasteries in Luoyang), written during the Northern Wei dynasty. In the chapter on Yongning Temple, the author condemns Erzhu Rong, a barbarian military leader of humble origin from Mayi, who recklessly marched his forces against the imperial palace without measuring his own virtue or strength. The author likens Erzhu Rong's doomed ambition to a broken cart trying to halt a turning wheel, or to piling up firewood while awaiting the blaze - a futile act of self-destruction. Erzhu Rong was indeed later killed in the imperial palace by Emperor Xiaozhuang.
💡 Example Usage
他举兵叛乱，无异于积薪候燎，终将覆亡。
By raising troops in rebellion, he was like piling firewood and waiting for the blaze - he would inevitably perish.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 积薪候燎
- Pinyin: jī xīn hòu liáo
- Literal Translation: pile up firewood, await the burning
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4