During the Zhou Dynasty, King Li of Zhou (Ji Hu) lived a life of luxury and cruelty, trusting petty sycophants while alienating wise ministers. He spent his days drinking and reveling, neglecting all state affairs.
There was an upright old minister named Fan Bo, who watched helplessly as King Li's debauchery and brutal oppression of the people pushed the kingdom toward ruin. He repeatedly submitted memorials urging the king to treat his subjects well, but each time, either treacherous courtiers blocked his petitions or the king feigned illness to avoid court.
One morning, as court convened, Fan Bo arrived early, waiting to see King Li. When the session began, Fan Bo was about to present his memorial, but the treacherous ministers rushed to speak before him, deliberately stalling for time.
Sure enough, after hearing the reports from several ministers, King Li excused himself, claiming fatigue, and ordered his carriage back to the palace. Fan Bo tried to catch up, but it was already too late.
The treacherous ministers, seeing this, sneered, "Heh heh heh... Chase after him! Go on, chase after him! Ha! What a loyal minister who worries about the state and its people—why not chase him into the inner palace? Hmph, what a busybody."
Upon hearing this, Fanbo was furious, his anger erupting like a torrent. Pointing at the treacherous ministers, he roared:
"You pack of treacherous villains, running wild with your misdeeds! I, an old man, have offered my loyal and earnest counsel to the king, yet you have the nerve to mock me with cold sneers. It is not I who am senile—it is you who treat the seeds of disaster as a game. Before calamity strikes, it can still be prevented, but once the spark of trouble becomes a raging inferno, it cannot be saved. This great fire will consume you all! You pile up evil and flaunt your power, beyond all remedy. The Zhou dynasty's realm will be ruined by your hands. How tragic, how tragic!"
Sure enough, before long, the people could no longer endure King Li of Zhou's brutal rule. They united, formed an uprising, stormed the palace, captured the king alive, and exiled him to Zhi (present-day Huo County, Shanxi), where he lived for fourteen years until his death.
Later, the idiom "beyond cure" came to describe something so bad that it cannot be saved.
Source: *Book of Songs*, "Greater Odes of the Kingdom"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "不可救药" came to describe how something so bad that it cannot be saved.