The History of the Han tells of a guest who saw a straight chimney with a pile of firewood beside it. He told the host to bend the chimney and move the wood away, or there would be a fire. The host said nothing. Soon the house caught fire, and the neighbors put it out together.
The host feasted the neighbors and seated those with burns in the place of honor. The guest was not invited. Someone then asked: “The one who said to bend the chimney and move the firewood gets no reward, and those with scorched heads are honored guests?”
The idiom qu tu xi xin, bend the chimney and move the firewood, means to act in advance to prevent disaster.