A poem about beans by Cao Cao, Cao Zhi and Cao Pi.

The Seven Steps Poem [Three Kingdoms Wei] Cao Zhi cooked beans and held them as soup, thinking they were juice. Honey burns under the pot, and beans cry in the pot. We are born from the same root, so why should we speculate with each other? [Note] 1. Pot (f incarnation): ancient pot. 2. Fried: suffering, metaphorical persecution. [Analysis] According to Shi Shuo Xin Yu Literature, Cao Zhi's brother Cao Pi wanted to persecute Cao Zhi after he proclaimed himself emperor, so he ordered Cao Zhi to write a poem in a short time after taking seven steps, but he could not. As a result, Cao Zhi sang this seven-step poem. The poet used the metaphor of fried beans to accuse Cao Pi of cruel persecution of himself and other brothers. According to legend, Cao Zhi's younger brother Wei Wendi (Cao Pi) asked him to write a poem within seven steps, or he would kill his head. Cao Zhi wrote this poem angrily. Beans and beanstalks are born from the same root, just like brothers. The bean stalks are burning in the pot and boiling the beans until they cry. The metaphor of elder brother forcing younger brother is very apt and touching. [A Brief Analysis of Seven-step Poems] For the author of the Seven-step Poems, Xie Lingyun once commented: "There is only one stone in the world, and Cao Zijian monopolizes eight fights. I have to fight, and the world is divided into one battle. " That is to say, if the talent in the world is a burden (stone), Cao Zhi accounts for eight fights, and eight fights are a burden. (Stone) Liu Xie's "Wen Xin Diao Long Cai lue" also said: "Zi Jian is clever and talented, and his poems are beautiful and elegant." Wang Shizhen's "Art Garden" in the Ming Dynasty also said: "Zijian is a beautiful genius. Although he has an eternal reputation, he actually avoids his father and brother. Why? It's too high and too fancy. " It can be seen that the predecessors have pointed out the characteristics of Cao Zhi's outstanding talent and abnormal endowment, and the best example of his talent is this seven-step poem. There are many legends about the seven-step poem. According to Shi Shuo Xin Yu Literature, Cao Pi has always held a grudge against his brilliant brother Cao Zhi since he proclaimed himself emperor. On one occasion, he ordered Cao Zhi to write a poem within seven steps, or he would be executed if he failed to do so. But before his voice fell, Cao Zhi answered six songs, which is the first one above. Because it is limited to seven steps, it is called "seven-step poem" by later generations. It is said that Cao Pi was "deeply ashamed" after hearing this, not only because Cao Zhi showed extraordinary talent in poetry, but also because the poem showed that brothers are brothers, and they should not be suspicious and resentful, which naturally made the emperor feel ashamed. The Seven Steps Poetry is written purely metaphorically. Its language is simple, its meaning is clear, and it needs no more explanation. Just a little unclog some words and expressions, and the meaning is self-evident. "Douchi" in the second sentence refers to Douchi that has been filtered and cooked to make sauce. "Fen" refers to beanstalk, which is dried and used as firewood. The powder is cooked with beans from the same root. Metaphor brothers are too tight, give up on themselves and violate heaven, which is naturally unacceptable. The poet's clever metaphor and clever language blurted out in an instant, which was really amazing. For thousands of years, the word "born from the same root, why bother to fry each other" has become a common language to persuade brothers not to kill each other, which shows that this poem is widely circulated among the people. The first two sentences of the Seven-Step Poem are "Boil beans and burn tofu, and beans weep in the kettle", and the sharp contradiction between "tofu" and "bean" and the cruel persecution of tofu to beans are written by "burning" and "weeping". The last two sentences are "born from the same root, why speculate with each other!" Make the finishing point and prompt the theme of the poem. The word "the same root" is a pun. On the surface, it means that "glutinous rice" and "beans" grow on the same root. Actually, they were born to the same parents as xelloss, and asked xelloss why he was so anxious about his younger brother and sister. The metaphor in the seven-step poem is very appropriate, simple and vivid. Although it is still difficult to determine whether this poem itself is really written by Cao Zhi, it reflects the internal contradictions of Cao Wei's ruling group with vivid images, and it is indeed a good poem.