📖 Meaning
To secretly encourage or stir up trouble by inciting others, much like fanning a fire to make it spread. It describes someone who deliberately provokes conflicts or escalates disputes from behind the scenes.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom has no recorded classical origin and is not traced to any specific dynasty or historical figure. It is a vernacular expression formed from the vivid image of fanning wind and lighting fire to make a blaze grow stronger. The phrase became widely used in modern Chinese to metaphorically describe those who secretly agitate others into causing trouble or quarrels. Its imagery emphasizes both the instigator's hidden role and the rapid spread of the trouble they provoke.
💡 Example Usage
他在背后煽风点火，挑拨两人关系，实在令人不齿。
He fanned the flames behind their backs, sowing discord between the two, which was truly despicable.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 煽风点火
- Pinyin: shān fēng diǎn huǒ
- Literal Translation: fan the wind, light the fire
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4