📖 Meaning
A metaphor for bitter internal strife or fratricidal conflict, especially among brothers or close associates. It describes a situation where people who should be united instead harm each other relentlessly.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the story of Cao Zhi and his elder brother Cao Pi during the Three Kingdoms period. After Cao Pi became Emperor of Wei, he grew jealous of Cao Zhi's literary talent and ordered him to compose a poem within seven paces or face execution. Cao Zhi recited the famous 'Seven Steps Poem,' which used the imagery of beanstalks being burned to boil beans—a metaphor for brothers destroying one another. The line '相煎何太急' ('why so urgent in boiling one another') from this poem gave rise to the idiom.
💡 Example Usage
大家都是兄弟，何必相煎太急呢？
We are all brothers here—why must we tear each other apart so viciously?
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 相煎太急
- Pinyin: xiāng jiān tài jí
- Literal Translation: mutual, boil, too, urgent
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4