七步诗

七步诗见于《三国演义》，描述曹丕嫉妒其弟曹植的文学才华，曾下令其七步内作诗，并且包含兄弟之意而无“兄弟”二字，否则将其处死。曹植以煮豆为题材，作出此诗，来表达兄弟相残的悲哀，最终曹丕自愧而将其放过。

此诗广为流传，但并没有见于《三国志》（三国志行文简略，不录之文甚多），最早也出现于《世说新语·文学》，所以是不是曹植所作被认为存疑。

原著

据《世说新语》记载，魏文帝曹丕妒忌弟弟曹植的才学，命曹植在七步之内作出一首诗，否则曹植将被处死。曹植没走到七步，便吟出讽刺骨肉相残的《七步诗》：煮豆持作羹，漉菽以为汁，萁在釜下燃，豆在釜中泣，本自同根生，相煎何太急？该典故中，衍生了“七步之才”、“七步成诗”等成语，形容才思敏捷，能够出口成章，下笔成文；还衍生了“煮豆燃萁”这个成语，形容手足相残。

这首诗流传至后世，又出现四句的版本，并见于小说《三国演义》：煮豆燃豆萁，豆在釜中泣，本是同根生，相煎何太急。但《三国演义》所述是应声而非七步而作。由于《三国演义》的流传较《世说新语》为广。因此四句的版本比原来六句的版本更为人所熟知。

由于此事件不见于正史《三国志》，此诗亦不见于《曹植集》，有人就认为此事为后人虚构，但正史无载的事不能断言为虚构。亦有人认为确有其事，但现存的《七步诗》为后人伪托。另有一种说法是《七步诗》有两首，先一首为《两肉》：两肉齐道行，头上带凹骨。相遇块山下，郯起相搪突。二敌不俱刚，一肉卧土窟。非是力不如，盛气不泄毕。并认为曹植先作此首，曹丕再出题要曹植再赋诗，后一首才是《煮豆》。但无论如何，《七步诗》广为流传。

The Seven Steps Verse, also known as the Quatrain of Seven Steps (traditional Chinese: 七步詩; simplified Chinese: 七步诗; pinyin: Qī Bù Shī; Cantonese Jyutping: Cat1 Bou6 Si1), is a highly allegorical poem that is usually attributed to the poet Cao Zhi.

Background

During the life of the great warlord Cao Cao who dominated northern China towards the end of the Han dynasty, he had shown favor to his third son Cao Zhi due to his intelligence and literary talents. Cao Cao considered making him heir and Cao Zhi had support from a significant fraction of his father's court, even though he was one of Cao Cao's younger sons. However, because Cao Zhi was negligent of decorum and his father's decrees, he eventually disappointed his father and the position of heir went to his elder brother Cao Pi. After Cao Cao's death in 220, Cao Pi would remove all his brothers, Cao Zhi included, from the capital to send them to their fiefs to ensure they would not be a threat to his power.

The poem is set against this historical background, although the poem itself and the anecdote attached to it are not found in the official history Records of the Three Kingdoms. Researchers do not consider the story to be historical and dispute Cao Zhi's alleged authorship of the poem.

A New Account of the Tales of the World

Against this backdrop, A New Account of the Tales of the World, a collection of ahistorical anecdotes compiled in 430, recounts an episode where Cao Pi goes further in his punishment of Cao Zhi. The anecdote in chapter 4 of this text claims Cao Pi was jealous of Cao Zhi's artistic talents and sought to execute him.

It gives the following account of the poem's origin: Cao Pi summoned Cao Zhi and issued an ultimatum to his little brother, asking him to produce a poem in the time it took to walk seven steps, failing which he would be executed. Cao Zhi complied, and Cao Pi "showed deep shame on his face".

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

In the later but more popular classic historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, published in the 14th century, chapter 79 adds more flavor to the event with a slightly different account, in which this poem is technically not the "seven steps poem".

After Cao Cao's death, Cao Zhi did not bother to show up to his funeral. Cao Pi used this as a reason to arrest Cao Zhi. Their mother begged him not to take his little brother's life, but Cao Pi's advisor advised him to make the hard decision. Cao Pi was reluctant, and was then advised to find an excuse to give his brother a difficult test in public, and either execute or demote him based on whether he passed. Cao Pi accordingly summoned his little brother in front of his entire court, accused him of having used ghostwriters to gain fame and secure their father's favor, and challenged him in front of the court to produce a poem on the spot or otherwise be executed for having been a fraud about his famed literary talents.

The test was based on a painting shown in court, which depicted one bull killing another after a head-butting fight, and Cao Zhi was asked to produce a poem to describe the painting, without using any of the relevant words, within the timeframe of walking seven steps. Cao Zhi responded with a fairly long poem within the time frame.

Cao Pi did not wish to give up, and gave his little brother a harder test by asking him to produce a poem about brothers but without using the word "brother", but this time immediately. Cao Zhi responded with this famous poem. Upon hearing the poem, Cao Pi burst into tears in front of the court. The siblings' mother then came out from the backroom and intervened, and eventually Cao Pi demoted Cao Zhi to a fiefdom distant from the center of power rather than harming him.