Idiom Explanation:
Like fire burning in the wilderness. The metaphor is that the sound is so great that it is difficult to stop.
Pronunciation:
如火燎原
rú huǒ liáo yuán
Origin:
《尚书·盘庚上》：“若火之燎于原，不可向迩。”
Story:
Shang Tang was originally the ruler of the state of Shang, a vassal state of the Xia Dynasty. As the last ruler of the Xia Dynasty, Xia Jie, was lethargic and tyrannical, he caused the people to complain and defect from him. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Shang Tang, with the support of his wise minister Yi Yin, invaded Xia and overthrew the Xia Dynasty. After establishing the Shang dynasty, Shang Tang set the capital at Bo. In the next three hundred years, the capital was moved five times. This was due to the fact that there were often internal disputes for the throne within the royal family, as well as frequent floods in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. The capital had to be relocated because of the flooding of the capital once.
Starting from Shang Tang, the throne was passed down to Pan Geng for 20 generations. Pan Geng was a capable monarch. He decided to move the capital once again in order to change the chaos and social instability within the royal family at that time. However, his idea was not supported by the Shang nobles, most of whom were greedy for comfort and unwilling to move, and all hoped to change Pan Geng’s mind. Some of the powerful nobles even incited the commoners to oppose it, causing unrest.
In the face of the strong opposition, Pan Geng did not waver in his determination to move the capital. He brought the nobles who opposed the move to the capital and persuaded them patiently: “I want you to move because I want to stabilize our country. Instead of understanding my painful intention, you have become unnecessarily alarmed. Sin is easy to grow, just like a great fire. When it burns up, it is impossible to get close to it, so how can you put it out? If it comes to this, you are to blame, not my fault!”
As Pan Geng insisted on moving the capital, he finally thwarted the opposition forces. He crossed the Yellow River with his people and slaves and moved the capital to Yin. There, Pan Geng tried his best to revive the declining Shang dynasty, and the people gradually became prosperous. For the next two hundred years, the Shang dynasty did not move its capital again, which is why the Shang dynasty was also called Yin or Yin Shang.
After thousands of years, the capital of the Shang dynasty has long been in ruins. In modern times, a large number of ancient relics were occasionally unearthed in the Xiaotun village of Anyang, and after repeated studies, it was proven that the site was once the capital of the Shang Dynasty, so it was called “Yin Ruins”.
Among the relics excavated at Yinxu, a large number of bronze vessels and weapons were found, which were of various types and very elaborate. At the same time, a large censer called Simuwu was found, weighing 875 kilograms and standing more than 130 centimeters tall, with a large top and bottom decorated with exquisite floral motifs. The unearthing of such a large bronze vessel indicates that metallurgical techniques had reached a very high level during the Yin Shang period. After Pan Geng moved to Yin, society became stable and the productivity of the Shang dynasty developed so much that the people could focus on social production, thus allowing them to produce such exquisite ceremonial vessels.
