The Seven Step Poem

By: Jordan BarrettMrs. LaFon’s 5th period

Seven Step PoemShi Huang was the emperor who united China. He did good and bad things in his lifetime. (259-210 B.C.)

The first good thing he did was to build, then bury thepottery army instead of burying his real soldiers.

The second good thing Qin Shi Huang did was build theGreat Wall of China.

The third thing that was good was that he united China for the first time.

The first bad thing he did was burning all the books thatweren’t religious.

The second bad thing he did was burying more than 400teachers alive because they didn’t like burning books.

After the emperor, Shi Huang, died China split up againand they had a Civil War.

After the Civil War “Three Kingdoms” were left. Cao Caowas the emperor of one of those Kingdoms.

Cao Cao was born in 155 A.D. and died in 220 A.D. Hehad two sons, but didn’t name either of them the new

emperor and didn’t leave a will. So the older sonbecame emperor. His name was Cao- Pi.

Cao-Zhi was the younger brother. Cao-Pi was afraid hisbrother wanted to be emperor. He was also mad that

Cao-Zhi did not attend their father’s funeral.

Cao-Pi was going to arrest him then execute him, whenhis mother came in and begged Cao-Pi not to execute

Cao-Zhi. Cao-Pi told his mother he would not hurt him ifhe made up a poem in JUST seven steps.

Seven Step Poem

Then Cao-Zhi started to recite the poem he thoughtin his head.

Cao-Pi realized that it was not a good thing tofight with his brother and started crying. After hefinshed crying he let his brother live.

THANK YOU ALL FOR WATCHING!

Instructor’s background note

The Seven Steps Poem is an allegorical story which can be understood as containing two closely related extended metaphors.Although said to have been recited on the spot by Cao Zhi (c. 192–232), it is doubtful he actually composed the poem. It was firstattributed to him in writing almost two hundred years after his death by Liu Yiqing in “A New Account of the Tales of the World.”This was a compilation made in about 430 A.D. consisting of over 1,300 popular folktales, historical stories, poems, andanecdotes.

Still, there is ample contemporary documentation to establish that the principle characters of Cao Cao, Cao Pi, and Cao Zhi werehistorically real. So, too, was the bitter rivalry of the two brothers to succeed their father Cao Cao. Once he became emperor CaoPi persistently checked the younger brother’s political ambitions by frequently ordering his transfer and denying him preferredadvisors.

All three – Cao Pi, Cao Zhi, and their father Cao Cao – were composers of Jian'an style poetry characteristic of the era. It is welldocumented that in his day Cao Zhi was widely regarded as the leading poet of that style. Indeed, Cao Cao at one time was soimpressed by the younger brother’s poetic skill that he seriously considered naming him as his successor emperor.

The more obvious metaphor of the poem likens the conflict between the two brothers to the plight of beans from the same parent“stalk” thrown into a pot. The line “Why are you now burning us?” implicitly urges unity between family members rather than strife.

A more subtle metaphor may be understood as referring to the so-called “Period of Disunity” following the collapse of the HanDynasty in 220 A.D. This became in effect a protracted civil war, first among various warlords,and later between the emperors ofthe “Three Kingdoms” of Wu, Wei, and Shu. The period of disunity ended with decline and fall of Wei in 265 A.D. and theemergence of the Jin Dynasty (265 - 420 A.D. )

Ancient Chinese history is marked by the rise and fall of several dynasties interspersed by periods of civil war and disunity. Foryounger students the tale of the “Seven Steps Poem” is a memorable way to illustrate that over-arching theme.

SEE NEXT SLIDE FOR REFERENCES

Useful Academic References:

1. David R. Knechtges and Taiping Chang, Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature, Vol. 1, Leiden and Boston: Brill (2010).

2. Fusheng Wu, Written at Imperial Command; Panegyric Poetry in early Medieval China, Albany: State University of New YorkPress ( 2008).

3. Hans H Frankel, “Fifteen Poems by Cao Zhi: An Attempt at a New Approach, “ 84 Journal of the American Oriental Society 1(1964).