煮豆燃萁

verb

to cook beans while burning the beanstalks (idiom, alluding to Cao Zhi's poem); (fig.) fratricidal strife; internecine struggle; brothers harming each other

Alludes to the historical account in 《世说新语•文学》 where Cao Pi (Emperor Wen of Wei) forced his brother Cao Zhi to compose a poem within seven steps, threatening execution otherwise. Cao Zhi composed: '煮豆持作羹，漉豉以为汁。萁在釜下燃，豆在釜中泣。本自同根生，相煎何太急' (We boil beans to make soup, strain the dregs for juice. The stalks burn beneath the pot, the beans weep within. Born of the same root, why the eagerness to cook each other?). The idiom describes internal conflict, particularly between siblings or close kin.