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.

煮豆燃豆萁，豆在釜中泣。本自同根生，相煎何太急。 [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

From: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, circa 14^th century CE

Zhǔ dòu rán dòu qí, dòu zài fǔ zhōng qì. Běn zì tóng gēn shēng, xiàng jiān hé tài jí. [Pinyin]

Beans are boiled by burning bean-stalks; 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

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• 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