Cao Zhi The poetical prodigy
3 min readCao Zhi was a famous poet during the late Eastern Han Dynasty（25-220 AD）and the Three Kingdoms Period（220-280AD）.He created a unique poetry style，known as the “Jian’an Style，”which was greatly revered in the following dynasties.
Cao Zhi was a prodigy.When he was very young，he was able to recite hundreds of poems and verses and became known as an eloquent speaker.
He was the third son of Cao Cao, the powerful ruler of the State of Wei and also a renowned poet. Cao Zhi, his father and his elder brother Cao Pi were all accomplished writers and were jointly named as the “Cao Father and Sons”in the Chinese history of literature.
But of the three, Cao Zhi was by far the most talented. The old Cao loved his third son very much and once in-tended to name him the crown prince and his heir. However, Cao Zhi wasn’t a politician at all. He spent enormous time on drinking, poetry and literary criticism.
Meanwhile, his elder brother Cao Pi, though not a rival to his younger brother in writing, was much better at politics. Heresorted to subterfuge to squeeze Cao Zhi out of his father’s favor and finally established himself as the heir to the throne.
After the father died in 220 AD, Cao Pi became the king of the State of Wei and soon afterwards, he proclaimed himself the emperor. Since then, he began to persecute his younger brother relentlessly.
Although Cao Zhi had already lost his wife and many close friends and supporters, his brother still wanted him dead.
It was only because of their mother’s piteous, tearful entreatiesthat Cao Pi decided to give his younger brother one last chance.
One day, the new ruler summoned Cao Zhi to the court.
He told his younger brother that he had seriously violated some imperial rules and must be executed.
“However, since you are my own brother,”Cao Pi said,”I will give you an opportunity to redeem yourself on condition that you create a poem within the time it takes to walk seven paces.”
The younger brother replied:”Yes,I’ ll do it. Please name a topic.”
Cao Pi said:”The topic is ‘ Brothers,’ but the word ‘ brother’ should never appear in the poem.”
Before walking seven paces，Cao Zhi chanted aloud a poem to the effect：”A dried beanstalk is being used as the fuel to cook beans；And a bean is weeping in the pot；Both of us have grown from the same root；So why are you now cooking me in such haste？”Hearing this poem，nearly everyone present was moved to tears and even the elder brother felt sad and embarrassed.
Thanks to his talent，Cao Zhi escaped death that time，but dueto continuous persecution and deep depression，he died at the age of 40.
Today，many poetry lovers still appreciate Cao Zhi’s works，but most Chinese speakers remember him better for the episode about his poem of cooking beans and a popular Chinese idiom，“Torment a person too hard”or“cooking beans in such haste，”that originates from the same story.
