扬汤止沸 Yáng tāng zhǐ fèi Boiling Water

Explanation

比喻方法不彻底，不能从根本上解决问题。

A metaphor for superficial methods that cannot fundamentally solve problems.

Origin Story

话说东汉末年，有个叫刘廙的人，他哥哥被杀害，便投奔曹操。他的弟弟是行刺曹操的魏讽的同党，按照律法，刘廙也该处死，但是曹操爱惜人才，将他赦免。刘廙非常感激，写信给曹操感谢救命之恩。信中写道：‘臣闻扬汤止沸，不如去薪；溃痈之痛，胜于养毒。’意思是说，只是表面应付解决不了问题，只有釜底抽薪，才能真正解决问题。曹操看后深受感动，更加器重刘廙。曹操不仅赦免了他，还让他做官，从此刘廙在官场上兢兢业业，为国效力。这个故事告诉我们，解决问题要从根本上着手，切莫只是表面应付，否则就像扬汤止沸，难以奏效。

huà shuō dōng hàn mò nián, yǒu ge jiào liú yí de rén, tā gēge bèi shā hài, biàn tóubēn cáo cáo。tā de dìdi shì xíng cì cáo cáo de wèi fēng de tóngdǎng, àn zhào lǜfǎ, liú yí yě gāi chǔ sǐ, dànshì cáo cáo àixí réncái, jiāng tā shèmiǎn。liú yí fēicháng gǎnjī, xiě xìn gěi cáo cáo gǎnxiè jiù mìng zhī ēn。xìn zhōng xiě dào：‘ chén wén yáng tāng zhǐ fèi, bùrú qù xīn；kuì yōng zhī tòng, shèng yú yǎng dú。’ yìsi shì shuō, zhǐshì biǎomiàn yìngfù jiějué bù liǎo wèntí, zhǐyǒu fǔdǐ chōuxīn, cái néng zhēnzhèng jiějué wèntí。 cáo cáo kàn hòu shēnshòu gǎndòng, gèngjiā qìzhòng liú yí。 cáo cáo bù jǐn shèmiǎn le tā, hái ràng tā zuò guān, cóngcǐ liú yí zài guānchǎng shàng jīng jīng yè yè, wèi guó xiàolì。zhège gùshì gàosù wǒmen, jiějué wèntí yào cóng gēnběn shàng zhuōshǒu, qièmò zhǐshì biǎomiàn yìngfù, fǒuzé jiù xiàng yáng tāng zhǐ fèi, nán yǐ zòuxiào。

In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a man named Liu Yi whose brother was murdered, so he sought refuge with Cao Cao. His brother was an accomplice of Wei Feng, who attempted to assassinate Cao Cao, and according to the law, Liu Yi should also have been executed. However, Cao Cao valued talent and pardoned him. Liu Yi was very grateful and wrote a letter to Cao Cao to thank him for saving his life. The letter wrote: “I have heard that simply boiling water is less effective than removing the firewood; the pain of an infected wound is preferable to cultivating the poison.” It means that simply dealing with it superficially cannot solve the problem. Only removing the firewood can really solve the problem. Cao Cao was deeply moved after reading this, and he valued Liu Yi even more. Cao Cao not only pardoned him but also appointed him an official. From then on, Liu Yi worked diligently and served his country. This story tells us that we must tackle problems fundamentally and not merely superficially, otherwise, it would be like boiling water, which is ineffective.

Usage

常用作谓语、定语；比喻方法不彻底，不能从根本上解决问题。

cháng yòng zuò wèiyǔ、dìngyǔ；bǐyù fāngfǎ bù chèdǐ, bùnéng cóng gēnběn shàng jiějué wèntí。

Often used as a predicate or attributive; a metaphor for superficial methods that cannot fundamentally solve problems.

Examples

• 他只是做了表面功夫，治标不治本，真是扬汤止沸！

  tā zhǐshì zuò le biǎomiàn gōngfū, zhì biāo bù zhì běn, zhēnshi yáng tāng zhǐ fèi!

  He only did superficial work, treating the symptoms but not the root cause, which is a true example of 'boiling water'!

• 解决问题不能只顾眼前利益，要从根本上解决问题，不能扬汤止沸。

  jiějué wèntí bùnéng zhǐ gù yǎnqián lìyì, yào cóng gēnběn shàng jiějué wèntí, bùnéng yáng tāng zhǐ fèi。

  Solving the problem should not only take into account immediate benefits, but also solve the problem fundamentally, instead of 'boiling water'.

Related Idioms

• 治标不治本

Opposite Idioms

• 釜底抽薪