Internal strife or severe conflict, especially among those closely related like siblings or within the same group, where they inflict harm or destruction upon each other; to torment each other too fiercely.
Era:
Ancient
Frequency:
Synonym:
Story:
During the Three Kingdoms period in ancient China, Cao Pi, the Emperor Wen of Wei, was deeply jealous of his younger brother Cao Zhi's remarkable literary talent. Seeking an excuse to eliminate him, Cao Pi ordered Cao Zhi to compose a poem within seven steps; failure to do so would result in his execution.
Cao Zhi walked seven steps and recited: 'Beans are boiled to make a soup, filtering out the liquid as juice. The beanstalk burns beneath the pot, while the beans in the pot weep. We are born from the same root, why are you tormenting me so fiercely?'
Deeply shamed and moved by the poem's allegorical plea, which depicted brothers as beans and beanstalks from the same plant, Cao Pi relented, though he still demoted Cao Zhi to a frontier post.