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相煎何太急

xiāngjiānhétàijí
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 why boil each other so urgently? — why must kinsmen / brothers persecute one another?
  2. 2 literally: boiling one another, why so fiercely?

Examples

都是同事，何必相煎何太急。
Dōu shì tóngshì, hébì xiāng jiān hé tài jí.
We're all colleagues — why turn on each other so fiercely?
两家公司本是合作伙伴，如今相煎何太急，让人惋惜。
Liǎng jiā gōngsī běn shì hézuò huǒbàn, rújīn xiāng jiān hé tài jí, ràng rén wǎnxī.
The two companies were once partners — that they now tear at each other is regrettable.

Tips

history
Final line of Cao Zhi's (曹植) 《七步诗》 (Seven-Pace Poem), Three Kingdoms period. His brother Emperor Cao Pi ordered him to compose a poem within seven paces on pain of death. Cao Zhi produced: 煮豆燃豆萁，豆在釜中泣。本是同根生，相煎何太急 — 'To boil beans they burn the beanstalks; the beans weep in the pot. Born of the same root, why boil each other so fiercely?' Beans and stalks are brothers; the poem shamed Cao Pi into sparing him.
usage
Used almost exclusively between parties who should be allies — family, compatriots, colleagues, former partners. Carries a note of reproach and sadness, not anger.

Stroke Order

相 xiāng
煎 jiān
何 hé
太 tài
急 jí