In the first month of the first year of Huangchu (220), the sixty-six-year-old Cao Cao died of illness, and Cao Pi was promoted from the crown prince to the king of Wei; in October of the same year, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty was forced to abdicate the throne, and Cao Pi ascended the throne and proclaimed himself Emperor Wen of Wei. .
Because Cao Pi could not let go of his experience of fighting for the title of crown prince, he still harbored grudges against Cao Zhi after he became emperor. He was worried that his knowledgeable and politically ambitious younger brother would threaten his throne, so he thought of ways to get rid of him.
He ordered Cao Zhi to compose a poem within seven steps, otherwise he would be executed. He also had strict requirements for the poem: the theme of the poem must be brotherhood, but the whole poem cannot contain the word "brother". , Cao Zhi recited in less than seven steps: "Boil the beans to make soup, and drain the bean sprouts to make juice. The bean is burning under the cauldron, and the beans are weeping in the cauldron. They all grow from the same root, so why rush to fry each other?" "The bean pole is burning under the pot, and the beans are crying in the pot. The bean pole and the beans grow from the same root, so why do they torture and force each other so hard?"
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"Seven Steps of Poetry" is a poem by Cao Zhi, a poet of Wei State during the Three Kingdoms period. This poem is written purely in a metaphorical way. The language is simple and the meaning is clear. There is no need for further explanation. Only a few words and sentences need to be slightly clarified, and the meaning is self-evident.
The first four sentences describe the daily phenomenon of burning beans and cooking beans. Cao Zhi uses "beans" as a metaphor for himself, and the word "cry" fully expresses the sadness and pain of the victim. The word "soybean" in the second sentence refers to filtering the cooked and fermented beans to make a flavored juice. "萁" refers to the beanstalk, which is used as firewood after drying. The beans that are burned and cooked are the beans that grow from the same root as themselves. It is a metaphor for brothers who press too hard and kill each other. This is actually against the laws of nature and is normal. Not tolerated.
The poet's clever use of metaphors, clever use of words, and blurting out the words in an instant are really breathtaking. The last two sentences have a sudden change of tone, expressing Cao Zhi's inner grief and indignation. This is obviously questioning Cao Pi: You and I are brothers. Why do we have to fight so hard? "We are born from the same roots, so why rush to fight each other?" has become a common expression for people to advise people to avoid brothers fighting against each other and killing each other for thousands of years, which shows that this poem has been widely circulated among the people.
Cao Zhi (192-232), courtesy name Zijian, was born in Qiaojun, Peiguo (now a native of Haozhou, Anhui). Writer during the Three Kingdoms period. He is Cao Cao's fourth son, Cao Pi's half-brother, and is named King Chen. Because of his talent and learning, he was favored by Cao Cao in his early years and wanted to make him a prince. When Cao Pi and Cao Liu became emperors, they were highly jealous and died in depression.
He is an outstanding representative of Jian'an literature. He has more than 90 existing poems, most of which are five-character poems. Cao Zhi's poems make good use of metaphors and have eloquent diction. They relatively comprehensively represent the achievements and characteristics of Jian'an literature and have an important influence on the development of five-character poetry.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Seven Step Poetry