In the final years of the Warring States period, the powerful State of Qin repeatedly attacked and seized large territories from the weaker State of Wei. In 273 BC, the Qin army launched another vigorous assault.
The King of Wei, deeply worried, summoned his officials for a strategy to defeat Qin. Years of war had left the court in chaos; officials trembled at the mention of battle, and none dared suggest resistance. With enemy forces at the border, most ministers urged the king to sue for peace by ceding the vast lands north of the Yellow River and south of the Taihang Mountains to Qin.
However, a counselor named Su Dai disagreed. He hurried to the king and said, "Your Majesty, these officials do not consider the state's interests. Their cowardice and fear of death drive them to betray our land for peace. While this may temporarily satisfy the King of Qin, his greed is insatiable. He will not stop attacking until all our land is gone.
"Once, a man's house caught fire. People told him to use water, but he refused. Instead, he carried a faggot to smother the flames, only making the fire blaze more fiercely. He did not realize that faggots fuel a fire; they cannot extinguish it. Is agreeing to peace by ceding Wei's land not equivalent to carrying faggots to put out a fire?"
Despite Su Dai's compelling argument, the cowardly king, seeking immediate peace, accepted his officials' advice and ceded the territory. As expected, in 225 BC, the Qin army mounted a massive assault, besieging the Wei capital Daliang and flooding it by breaching the Yellow River dykes. The State of Wei was ultimately destroyed by Qin. This story is recorded in Sima Qian's Historical Records.
The idiom "carrying faggots to put out a fire" means using a wrong method to solve a problem, thereby making it worse.