| LEGEND 3 - Cao Zhi, a Prince who composed a poem within the time to walk seven steps During the period of the Three Kingdoms in China, the King of WEI, one of the three Kingdoms, was called Cao Cao. He had several sons, two of whom stood out as very talented in different ways. The elder son was called Cao Pei who was very skilful in military art, but rather aggressive and ambitious whilst his younger brother, Cao Zhi was a very kind hearted person; he was a great scholar and had the reputation of composing poems at lightning speeds. Traditionally, the heir to the throne should be the eldest son, but Cao Cao and some of his ministers agreed that Cao Zhi would make a great King if he were to ascend to the throne. The end of Cao Cao's had come and he died without leaving a royal decree announcing the heir to the throne. Cao Pei automatically became the next King of the Wei Kingdom. After he had become King, he was afraid that his brother, who had the respect and support of many senior courtiers, would overthrow him. He decided to eliminate Cao Zhi who was at that time a governor in a town within Wei. Cao Zhi decided not to return to the capital to attend his father's funeral because he knows that his brother had been regarding him as a pain in the neck and would detain him. Furthermore, he pretended to indulge in drinking with his officials all the time and neglect the governance of the town so as to give his brother the impression that he had lost all ambitions of becoming King. Despite all this, Cao Pei still regarded his brother as a potential threat to his power and sent an army to arrest Cao Zhi, on the ground that he did not practise filial piety and failed to attend the late King's funeral. When Cao Zhi arrived at the Palace, Cao Pei assembled all theministers, and in front of them, he ordered Cao Zhi to be executed. At this point in time, their mother arrived at the assembly hall and begged Cao Pei to have mercy on his brother. Cao Pei claimed that his brother should be punished for not attending the royal funeral, as he, being a prince, should set an example to the rest of the Kingdom. However, since Cao Zhi was his brother and in view of his mother's plea, he said that he deals with his brother mercifully. He said, “I will give you back your life if you can compose a poem within the time you walk seven steps." All the courtiers present were shocked as they all considered this condition to be too harsh and could not be compiled with by Cao Zhi. It was a virtual execution. Cao Zhi thought he would take a chance, or else he would be executed. He agreed to the terms. Cao Pei immediately ordered his brother to start walking and smilingly counted the steps. Cao Zhi started composing a poem and within the time, he walked seven steps he did finish the poem, which read as follows: 煮 豆 燃 豆 箕, 豆 在 釜 中 泣﹕ 本 是 同 根 生, 相 煎 何 太 急。 Beans were cooked in a pot, by burning beanstalks. Inside the pot the beans cried out, ”We’ve grown from the same root and spout, what’s all this ravaging about?” When Cao Pei heard of the poem, he was so touched by its contents that he could not help weeping. He felt so ashamed of himself. However, as he had to consolidate his power and strengthen his position, he could not let his brother continue to stay in the capital where he still had much influence and support. As he had to honour what he had promised, he ordered Cao Zhi to be released and sent to his township where he continued to be the governor. Needless to say, Cao Pei had his spies keeping his brother under close surveillance all the time until his death. |
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