According to Shi Shuo Xin Yu, 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 just seven steps. 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.
The first two sentences, "Boil beans and burn beans, and beans cry in the kettle", describe the sharp contradiction between "beans" and "beans" and the cruel persecution of beans by beans. 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 of this poem is very apt, 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.
As for the author of the seven-step poem, 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.
This goes back to the Cao Cao period. At that time, Cao Cao loved Cao Zhi because Cao Zhi was brilliant. As the eldest son, Cao Pi should inherit Cao Cao's position, so he is dissatisfied with Cao Zhi.
Later, Cao Cao died of headache. Because Cao Pi met Cao Cao, he got the support of civil and military officials in the Qing Dynasty, inherited Wang Wei's position, and abolished Liu Han to establish Cao Wei. Because I was jealous of Cao Zhi's talent before, I wanted to frame him. The two are female compatriots, and * * * intercedes for Cao Zhi with his mother, Queen Mother Bian. Cao Pi was afraid of being scolded for being unfilial to his mother and unfriendly to his brother, so he ordered Cao Zhi to write a seven-step poem, otherwise he would be beheaded. I thought that Cao Zhi would die, but Cao Zhi wrote a poem seven steps ago: "Boil beans and burn beans, and beans cry in the kettle." "This is the same life, why are you rushing to fire each other?" Use tofu pudding to cook beans as a metaphor for Cao Pi's compatriots killing each other. Cao Pi was ashamed and let Cao Zhi go. Because Cao Zhi wrote a poem with less than seven steps, later generations called this poem "seven-step poem".
Personally, I prefer to imagine it as a scene in Ada Choi's Luo Shen, which is so touching.