During the Warring States period, the states of Qi and Lu were neighbors. Duke Mu of Lu, rather than seeking good relations with Qi, was determined to ally with Jin and Chu, hoping they would rescue Lu in times of war. So he sent his sons to serve in Jin and Chu. A minister named Li Ke advised him, "Your Majesty, if you try to save a child drowning in the river by fetching water from the distant Yue Kingdom, the child will be dead before the water arrives. If you start a fire and then go to the sea for water, the fire will have consumed everything. Now, though Jin and Chu are strong, they are far away. If Qi attacks, how can they save us? It's like relying on water from a distant well to quench an immediate thirst." Duke Mu realized his mistake and changed his policy. This story gave rise to the idiom "distant water cannot quench present thirst," reminding us that far-off solutions cannot solve urgent problems.
Li, a minister of the state of Lu, advised Duke Mu of Lu: "Suppose someone fell into a river here, and we sent for Yue people from the distant south to rescue them. Though the Yue are excellent swimmers, by the time they arrived, the drowning person would surely be dead. Or suppose a fire broke out, and we ran to the distant sea for water. Though the sea is inexhaustible, by the time we brought the water back, the fire would have already burned the house down. Distant water cannot quench a nearby fire! Today, Jin and Chu are powerful, but they are far from Lu. If our state faces danger, they cannot come in time. But Qi is our neighbor—if Lu is in trouble, would they not come to our aid?"
Duke Mu of Lu, upon hearing this, finally began to establish friendly relations with the state of Qi.
Based on this story, later generations derived the idiom "Distant Water Cannot Quench a Nearby Fire," meaning slow action cannot solve an urgent problem.
Source: *Han Feizi*, "Shuo Lin Shang"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "远水不救近火" came to describe how slow action cannot solve an urgent problem.