【玩火自 焚】
during the spring and autumn period (770-476 bc),簡單 prince zhou xu of the state of wei killed his brother and became the new emperor. zhou xu was a tyrant. he oppressed his people and indulged in wars of aggression. by launching wars, he tried to divert the people’s attention and reduce their discontent with him in order to consolidate his dictatorship.
the duke of the state of lu leant about zhou xu’s usurpation of state power and his ambitious plan, he asked a senior official, "what do you think about zhou xu’s move? "the official answered, "he indulges in wars , bringing his people much disaster. he won’t get their support. and he’s capricious, so few of his close friends follow him. he can never achieve his success. in addition, war is like fire. if one launches wars endlessly without restraint, he’ll eventually burn himself. "
sure enough, the people of wei with the help of the state of chen overthrew zhou xu and killed him in less than a year.
later, people use it to mean that those who do evil will finally ruin themselves.
【畫餅充饑】
this idiom comes from records of three kingdoms• kingdom of wei • biography of lu yu.
when lu yu, the minister of the state of wei was young, his parents and brothers all died one after another, and he became an orphan. in such a difficult situation, he still studied very hard. finally he became a talented person and served as a high officialof hisstate.hewassouprightin performing his official duties that he was promoted to the minister of the board of civil office, in charge of the officials’ appointments and removals.
owing to the vacancy of lu yu’s original post, it had to fill up a new official for it. although there were many officials to recommend some well-known people for the post, all were refused by emperor wen.
he only let lu yu do it and also pointed out:"it depends on you whether we can find the right person for the important post. but we can’t choose someone only with fame in stead of his real ability. you see, the fame is just like drawing cakes on the ground to allay hungry."
then lu expressed his idea:" you are right, yourmajesty, selections should depend on their real learning and abilities. but the real fame is still very important, such as self-possession and high moral character. so we should select people with both of them."
now we use it to describe comforting oneself with unrealistic thoughts, without solving practical problemsand feeding on illusions.