Boil beans and burn beans,
The beans are dripping in the pot.
Originally born from the same root,
Why are you in such a hurry to blow each other up?
According to legend, Cao Zhi's brother Wei Wendi asked him to write a seven-step poem.
Otherwise, he will kill his head. Cao Zhi wrote this poem angrily. Beans and bean stalks are the same.
Roots look like brothers. The beanstalk cooks the beans in the pot.
Crying all the time. The metaphor of elder brother forcing younger brother is very apt and touching.
[A Brief Analysis of Seven-step Poems]
As for the author of the seven-step poem, Xie Lingyun once commented: "There is only one stone in the world, and Cao Zijian has eight fights, so when I fight, the world is divided into one fight." In other words, if the talent in the world is a burden (stone), Cao Zhi accounts for eight buckets, and eight buckets is a burden. (Chang Tan's interpretation) Liu Xie's Wen Xin Diao Long. It can be seen that 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. Therefore, people later called it "seven-step poem". 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 simple and vivid metaphor in the poem showed that brothers are brothers and sisters, and they should not be suspicious and resentful, which naturally made Wendy feel ashamed.
The seven-step poem is written by pure metaphor. Its language is simple and its meaning is clear, so it needs no further explanation. Its significance is self-evident. The "fermented black beans" in the second sentence refers to the filtered cooked beans, which are used to make sauces. "Fermented beans" refer to beanstalks, which are dried and burned as firewood. This is unacceptable to human nature. The poet's clever metaphor and clever language are really amazing and blurted out instantly. The phrase "We are born from the same root, why should we fry each other" has become a common language for thousands of years, which shows that this poem is widely circulated among the people.
The first two sentences of the Seven-step Poem are "Boiling beans and burning beans, and beans weep in the kettle", the sharp contradiction between "burning" and "weeping", and the cruel persecution of beans by beans. The last two sentences are "we are born from the same root, so why should we 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. In fact, it means that they were born to the same parents as Cao Pi, and asked why Cao Pi was so eager to persecute his brother.
The metaphor in "Seven Steps Poetry" is very apt and vivid. Although it is still difficult to determine whether this poem itself is really written by Cao Zhi, it vividly reflects the internal contradictions of the Cao Wei ruling group and is indeed a good poem.