Chuánshuō Cáo Pī ràng Cáo Zhí zài qī bù zhīnèi zuò shī, fǒuzé jiù shā le tā, zhè jiùshì 《 Qībùshī 》 de láilì.
Legend says Cao Pi ordered Cao Zhi to make a poem within seven steps or be killed, and that is how the Seven Steps Poem came about.
Tips
culture
The best-known version: 煮豆燃豆萁，豆在釜中泣。本是同根生，相煎何太急。 'They boil the beans over a fire of beanstalks, and the beans weep in the pot: we grew from the same root, why such haste to cook each other?' It is still quoted against quarrels within a family.
history
The story is told in the 世说新语. Whether 曹植 really wrote the poem is doubted, but it gave Chinese 七步之才 'the talent of seven steps', a gift for quick composition, and the idiom 煮豆燃萁 for strife between brothers.
