Musk leaves the world in daze with Chinese poem
Print Edition
TESLA founder and the world’s richest man Elon Musk posted a 1,800-year-old Chinese poem about sibling fights in an imperial court on his Twitter and Weibo accounts early yesterday, arousing worldwide curiosity on what he intended to say or imply.
Musk, who also founded aerospace company SpaceX, posted a famous poem, “The Quatrain of Seven Steps,” by Cao Zhi, a prince in the State of Wei during the Three Kingdoms Period (AD 220-280). Musk titled the post “humankind.”
Seven Steps is widely known in China and included in the classic novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It is said to have been penned by poet Cao Zhi in the early 3rd century on the orders of his brother and Emperor Cao Pi, who thought his sibling was trying to usurp his throne. The emperor demanded a poem that should “match his seven steps.” Failure to do so would have resulted in his execution.
The poem translates as:
Beanstalks are ignited to boil beans
The beans in the pot cry out
We are born of the same root
Why should we incinerate each other with such impatience?
Musk’s tweet sparked speculation as to what he wanted to convey. Netizens scrambled to offer their interpretations.
Some claimed Musk was referring to his recent row with the United Nations’ World Food Program chief David Beasley, who said billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos should “step up now, on a one-time basis.” He said that only 2 percent of Musk’s wealth can solve world hunger.
Musk, who is worth more than US$300 billion, quickly responded, saying if the WFP could explain exactly how more than US$6 billion could solve the global famine problem, he would immediately sell his Tesla stock and make a donation.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
