杯水车薪

Bēi Shuǐ Chē Xīn

用一杯水去救一车烧着的柴火,力量太小,根本解决不了问题。

One cup of water against a cartload of blazing firewood — too little to help at all.

zhèchéngchūmèngzi》。mèngzishìzhànguóshíhòudexiǎngjiāchángchángyòngshēngdòngdexiǎoshìjiǎnghěnshēndedào

yǒumèngziduìxuéshēngshuō:“yǒuréngǎnzhechēcháihuǒshàngbànshàngchēshàngdecháiránshāoleláihuǒmiáo”“xià蹿cuāndelǎogāodetuántuánzhuǎnpǎodàopángbiānyǎolemǎnmǎnbēishuǐxiànghuǒduī。”

xuéshēngmentīngledōuxiàoláichēshāodezhèngwàngdecháihuǒbēishuǐzěnmegòujiùneshuǐpèngdàohuǒshàngjiùbiànchéngbáiyānhuǒháishìshāorénzhǐnéngyǎnkànzhezhěngchēcháiquánshāochénghuī

mèngzijiēzheshuōzuòhǎoshìshìyàngguǒzhǐzuòdiǎndiǎnquèxiǎngjiùjiànhěndeshìjiùxiàngyòngbēishuǐjiùchēhuǒgēnběnméiyǒuyòngyàoxiǎngzhēnzhèngjiějuéwènjiùděichūgòudeliàngbàn

hòuláirénmenjiùyòngbēishuǐchēxīn”,xíngróngliàngtàixiǎogēnběnjiějuéliǎowèn

This idiom comes from the Mencius. Mencius was a great thinker of the Warring States period, and he often used vivid little stories to teach deep lessons.

One day he told his students: “A man was pulling a cart full of firewood down the road. Suddenly the wood on the cart burst into flames, shooting up high. He panicked, ran to the side, scooped up a single cup of water, and threw it at the fire.”

The students laughed. How could a cartload of roaring flames be put out with a single cup of water? The moment the water touched the fire, it turned to white steam, while the flames kept blazing — and the man could only watch his whole cart burn to ashes.

Mencius went on: doing good is the same. If you give only a tiny bit of help to a huge problem, it is just like tossing one cup of water onto a cart of fire. Nothing will change. Real solutions need real strength and planning.

Today “a cup of water on a cart of firewood” describes help so small that it cannot possibly solve the big problem in front of it.