How to Read “Those who follow the times are like those who rescue from fire or chase after the dead”
Toki ni shitagau mono wa nao hi wo sukui bōjin wo ou ga gotoshi
Meaning of “Those who follow the times are like those who rescue from fire or chase after the dead”
This proverb means that simply following trends and current events without thinking is like fighting fires or chasing fugitives. You lose sight of what really matters.
When you rush to respond to every change around you, you forget to ask the important questions. Why did this happen? What truly matters here?
Fighting fires and chasing fugitives are necessary actions. But they are emergency responses, not real solutions.
If you don’t understand what caused the fire or why someone ran away, you can’t solve the root problem.
Today we face many situations that demand quick responses. Social media controversies, sudden market changes, and viral trends all pull at our attention.
But this proverb teaches that surface-level reactions don’t lead to true solutions. Riding the wave of change is completely different from being swept away by it.
The proverb warns against moving with the crowd without calm judgment. It reminds us to see the essence of things, not just react to their appearance.
Origin and Etymology
The exact source of this proverb has several theories. But its structure reveals interesting insights about its meaning.
Notice how it pairs two emergency situations: “rescue from fire” and “chase after the dead.” Both describe urgent responses to immediate crises.
“Rescue from fire” means putting out a fire. “Chase after the dead” means pursuing someone who has fled or something that is lost.
This expression style likely comes from classical Chinese literary influence. The parallel structure was common in ancient texts.
“Follow the times” sounds positive at first, like being flexible and adaptable. But here it carries a critical meaning.
The proverb warns against carelessly drifting with trends and current events. It’s not praise but caution.
This saying probably emerged during periods of rapid political or social change. People lost their ability to judge wisely and got caught up in immediate responses.
By using concrete, urgent situations like fires and fugitives as examples, the proverb vividly expresses the danger of following trends blindly.
The phrase structure “like those who” uses classical literary style. This suggests the proverb has been passed down as ancient wisdom for generations.
Usage Examples
- He’s like “Those who follow the times are like those who rescue from fire or chase after the dead” – always chasing trends and losing sight of his company’s real strengths
- As “Those who follow the times are like those who rescue from fire or chase after the dead” says, I want to hold my own beliefs instead of being swayed by public opinion
Universal Wisdom
This proverb speaks to a universal human trait: we cannot help but react to changes around us.
We instinctively respond to movements in our environment and shifts in the times. This was once a necessary survival skill.
But this quick reaction sometimes makes us forget the most important question: “Why?”
When you’re desperately fighting a fire, you have no time to think about what caused it. When you’re chasing someone who ran away, you can’t consider why they fled.
Similarly, when you’re frantically adapting to change, you lose sight of the change’s true nature. You forget what you should truly value.
Our ancestors understood this human weakness deeply. Responding to change is necessary, yes.
But if you only respond without thinking, you’ll chase forever and never catch up. Because the next change is always coming.
This proverb has survived through generations because every era has had both types of people. Those who drift with the current, and those who see the essence.
Human society always changes. People always get swept up in those changes.
That’s why this proverb continues to speak across time. It reminds us of the courage to stop and think.
When AI Hears This
Fighting a spreading fire is an extremely difficult challenge in physics. Fire is a chemical reaction that converts ordered energy into disordered energy.
Wood’s molecular structure becomes heat and light. Entropy explodes upward during this process.
According to the second law of thermodynamics, entropy in an isolated system always increases. Reversing disorder requires enormous energy once it begins.
The relationship between fire spread rate and entropy increase is fascinating. Fire transfers heat to surrounding combustible materials, expanding the burning area in a chain reaction.
This shows an exponential growth pattern. The energy needed for control increases dramatically over time.
A fire that one cup of water could extinguish initially might need multiple fire trucks minutes later. The “cost of returning to the original state” increases non-linearly with time.
The essence this proverb points to is the importance of time in irreversible processes. Entropy increase creates the arrow of time, producing one-way directionality with no return to the past.
When you miss the right timing, physical laws themselves become your enemy. The universe constantly moves toward disorder.
Acting against this flow requires less energy the earlier you start. This is the cold truth revealed here.
Lessons for Today
This proverb teaches modern people the importance of “courage to pause.” In our information-flooded, rapidly changing era, you don’t need to react to every change.
The key is distinguishing between noticing change and following change. Knowing what’s happening in the world matters.
But before jumping on every trend, stop and think. Is this change fundamental or just a temporary wave? What do you truly value?
In business and in life, chasing trends is easy. But that means you’ll chase forever, never catching up.
You need both the ability to ride the flow and the eyes to judge which flow to ride.
Sometimes have the courage to choose differently from everyone else. When everyone runs right, you can ask “Why right?”
That question is the first step to seeing the essence. Don’t rush, don’t panic, live with your own axis.
That is what “Those who follow the times are like those who rescue from fire or chase after the dead” teaches us.
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