抽薪止沸 Draw out the firewood to stop the boiling
Explanation
抽掉锅底下的柴火，使锅里的水不再沸腾。比喻从根本上解决问题。
Remove the firewood from under the pot so that the water in the pot no longer boils. A metaphor for solving a problem at its root.
Origin Story
话说很久以前，在一个偏僻的小村庄里，住着一位老农。他家境贫寒，靠着几亩薄田维持生计。一日，老农家中突发大火，熊熊烈焰瞬间吞噬了茅草屋顶。老农见状，慌忙奔向水井，打来一桶桶井水，试图浇灭火势。然而，火势越发凶猛，眼看就要将整个房屋烧毁。这时，一位路过的智者见状，连忙阻止老农继续浇水，并说道："老人家，你这样浇水，只是治标不治本，徒劳无功啊！"老农疑惑地问道："那该如何是好？"智者指了指还在燃烧的柴火堆，说："抽掉柴火，火自然就灭了！"老农这才恍然大悟，立刻将燃烧的柴火从火堆中抽出，火势果然迅速减弱，最终被扑灭。老农感激不尽，向智者表达了谢意，并从这件事中明白了治标不如治本的道理。从此以后，老农在生活中，遇到任何难题，都先从根本上寻找解决办法，避免再犯类似的错误。
Once upon a time, in a remote village, there lived a poor farmer. His livelihood was meager, and he lived off a few small fields. One day, a great fire broke out in his house, and the raging flames instantly consumed the thatched roof of the house. Seeing this, the farmer hurriedly ran to the well and fetched bucket after bucket of water to try to extinguish the fire. But the fire was getting fiercer and fiercer, and it looked like the whole house was about to be burned down. At that moment, a wise man who happened to be passing by saw the incident and quickly stopped the farmer from continuing to pour water, saying: “Old man, if you continue to pour water like this, you are only treating the symptoms, not the cause, which is futile!” The farmer asked in confusion: “What should I do then?” The wise man pointed to the still-burning pile of firewood and said: “Remove the firewood, and the fire will naturally go out!” The farmer immediately understood and pulled the burning firewood out of the fire. The fire indeed quickly weakened and was eventually extinguished. The farmer was infinitely grateful and thanked the wise man. From this incident, he learned that it is better to solve the root cause of a problem than to just treat the symptoms. From that day on, the farmer, when encountering any problem in life, would first look for a solution at the root of the problem to avoid making similar mistakes.
Usage
比喻从根本上解决问题。
A metaphor for solving a problem at its root.
Examples
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要解决问题，不能只治标不治本，要抽薪止沸。
yào jiějué wèntí, bùnéng zhǐ zhìbiāo bù zhìběn, yào chōuxīn zhǐfèi
To solve the problem, we cannot only treat the symptoms but must address the root cause; we must draw out the firewood to stop the boiling.
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这场争端，与其表面调解，不如从根本上抽薪止沸。
zhè chǎng zhēngduān, yǔqí biǎomiàn tiáokiě, bùrú cóng gēnběn shàng chōuxīn zhǐfèi
In this dispute, rather than superficial reconciliation, it's better to fundamentally eliminate the cause, to draw out the firewood and stop the boiling.