During the Warring States period, devastating floods plagued the land. A man named Bai Gui proclaimed himself a flood control expert, and soon his reputation spread far and wide as communities sought his help to tame the raging waters.
One year, the State of Wei was hit by a massive flood, and King Hui of Wei urgently summoned Bai Gui to control the waters. Bai Gui arrived at the flooded region, and after a series of plugging leaks here and building dikes there, the floodwaters indeed receded.
King Hui of Wei was so impressed that he praised him lavishly and bestowed upon him a generous reward of gold and treasures.
Bai Gui returned home overjoyed. On the way, he happened to meet Mencius, so he smugly said to him, "Don't you think my water management skills are even better than Yu the Great's?"
Mencius, hearing this arrogant remark, immediately retorted, "Aren't you ashamed to say such a thing? When Yu the Great tamed the floods, he followed the natural flow of water and channeled it into the sea, controlling the deluge to protect all under heaven, not just one region. But you build dikes and plug leaks, diverting water into neighboring states as if they were your drainage ditches. Is there a shred of benevolence left in your heart?"
Bai Gui's face flushed red upon hearing this, and he stammered, "You—don't talk nonsense. That's impossible..."
Before he could finish, a man on horseback approached from afar, shouting, "Bai Gui, how are you! You've diverted all of Wei's floods into our country. Our king demands you come immediately to figure out flood control, or else he will..."
Upon hearing this, Bai Gui collapsed to the ground, utterly defeated.
Later, the idiom "using one's neighbor as a drain" came to mean shifting one's own difficulties and disasters onto others.
Source: *Mencius*, Chapter "Gaozi"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "以邻为壑" came to describe how shifting one's own difficulties and disasters onto others.