The chengyu
死灰复燃 (sǐhuī fùrán, 'dead ashes burning again') comes from the Han-dynasty 《
史记·
韩长孺列传》 (Records of the Grand Historian, Biography of Han Anguo): the official Han Anguo, jailed and humiliated, was taunted by a jailer with 'are dead ashes really going to burn again?' (
死灰独不复然乎?) — and replied 'if they do, I'll piss on them' (
然即溺之). Later he was promoted, and got revenge. Today
死灰复燃 means 'something dead has come back to life,' usually with a negative connotation.
