煮豆燃萁

Chinese

		to cook; to boil	bean; sacrificial vessel	burn; combustion	stalks of pulse
trad. (煮豆燃萁)		煮	豆	燃	萁
simp. #(煮豆燃萁)		煮	豆	燃	萁
alternative forms		煮豆燃豆萁
Literally: “to boil beans by burning bean-stalks”.

Etymology

From The Quatrain of Seven Steps, a poem attributed to Cao Zhi, a prince of Cao Wei, in response to threat of execution by his elder brother, Emperor Wen of Wei.

煮豆持作羹，漉菽以為汁。萁在釜下然，豆在釜中泣。本自同根生，相煎何太急。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

---

煮豆持作羹，漉菽以为汁。萁在釜下然，豆在釜中泣。本自同根生，相煎何太急。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Liu Yiqing (editor), A New Account of the Tales of the World, 5^th century CE

Zhǔ dòu chí zuò gēng, lù shū yǐ wèi zhī. Qí zài fǔ xià rán, dòu zài fǔ zhōng qì. Běn zì tóng gēn shēng, xiàng jiān hé tài jí. [Pinyin]

Beans are boiled to make broth, pulses are filtered to extract juice. Bean-stalks beneath the pot burn; bean-seeds inside the pot sob: "We are born of one same root. Why incinerate each other too ardently?

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zhǔdòuránqí

  (Zhuyin): ㄓㄨˇ ㄉㄡˋ ㄖㄢˊ ㄑㄧˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zyu² dau⁶ jin⁴ kei⁴

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zhǔdòuránqí
    • Zhuyin: ㄓㄨˇ ㄉㄡˋ ㄖㄢˊ ㄑㄧˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jhǔdòuráncí
    • Wade–Giles: chu³-tou⁴-jan²-chʻi²
    • Yale: jǔ-dòu-rán-chí
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: juudowranchyi
    • Palladius: чжудоужаньци (čžudoužanʹci)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂu²¹⁴⁻²¹ toʊ̯⁵¹ ʐän³⁵ t͡ɕʰi³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zyu² dau⁶ jin⁴ kei⁴
    • Yale: jyú dauh yìhn kèih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzy² dau⁶ jin⁴ kei⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: ju² deo⁶ yin⁴ kéi⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡syː³⁵ tɐu̯²² jiːn²¹ kʰei̯²¹/

Idiom

煮豆燃萁

1. to have a fratricidal strife; to have a fight between one's own men