煮豆燃萁 (Zhǔdòu rán qí)

[Daimashin]

煮豆燃萁 (Zhǔdòu rán qí) - Brothers' Feud.

Literal Meaning - Cook beans boil stalks

During the Three Kingdoms, Cao Pi once devised a plan to kill his brother Cao Zhi because Cao Pi was afraid that his brother will usurp his throne. The truth was that Cao Zhi was a good man and had no intentions to compete with his brother. One day, Cao Pi summoned Cao Zhi into the castle and ordered him to create a poem in seven steps or Cao Zhi will be sentenced to death. Cao Zhi then read out a poem and made Cao Pi feel guilty and finally let Cao Zhi go. The poem goes like this:

煮豆燃豆萁, (Zhǔdòu rán dòu qí)

豆在釜中泣, (Dòu zài fǔ zhōng qì)

本是同根生, (Běn shì tónggēn shēng)

相煎何太急. (Xiāng jiān hé tài jí)

The poem meant that both of them came from the same roots, and now one of them wants to kill the other. "煮豆燃萁" came from the first sentence of the poem meaning that people that are close fighting each other.

Example:

"你和他是好朋友，何必為了一個女孩「煮豆燃萁」呢?"