Chinese idiom · 成语
釜底抽薪
Meaning
To pull firewood from under the cauldron; to solve a problem at its root.
Character by character
Origin and story
Literary expressionLüshi Chunqiu (呂氏春秋), Jin Shu (盡數), uses boiling water to distinguish a cause from its effects. Trying to stop boiling by working on the hot water is ineffective; removing the fire stops it. A related argument in Mei Cheng’s biography in Han Shu says that even many people cooling the water cannot succeed while someone continues feeding the fire: the fuel must be cut off.
These passages supply early forms of the image, rather than one securely identified event that coined the exact four characters. Later writing compresses it into taking firewood from beneath the pot. The idiom means tackling a root cause, and can also describe cutting off another party’s essential support.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
取消自动续费，才是控制这些订阅支出的釜底抽薪之策。
Canceling automatic renewal is the way to tackle these subscription costs at their source.
Use for removing the cause or sustaining resource, not merely easing symptoms.