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- Tesla CEO Elon Musk cryptically tweeted a Chinese poem about beans on Sunday.
- It's a classic poem that's an allegory for a power struggle between two prominent brothers in ancient China.
- Musk hasn't revealed why he tweeted the poem, but people are speculating it might have to do with Dogecoin and Shiba Inu.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter on Sunday night to cryptically post a poem in Mandarin, labeling it "Humankind."
He didn't pen the poem – it's commonly attributed to a Chinese poet, Cao Zhi, who lived from 192 to 232. It's believed to have first been published in the year 430 in a classic text called "A New Account of Tales of the World."
And it's about beans. Or rather, it uses beans as an allegory to describe a conflict between Cao Zhi and his powerful elder brother Cao Pi.
-Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2021
The poem is known as "The Seven Steps Verse" and is translated as follows:
"Beanstalks are ignited to boil beans,
The beans in the pot cry out.
We are born of the selfsame root,
Why should we incinerate each other with such impatience?"
Legend has it that the poet Cao Zhi's brother, Cao Pi, assumed the throne of one of ancient China's kingdoms. Cao Pi was a jealous ruler and accused Cao Zhi of trying to usurp him.
He summoned Cao Zhi to court and told him to create a poem within seven steps that would convince the king of his innocence. Cao Zhi complied, and recited the above, comparing the beans to himself and Cao Pi.
According to the tale, Cao Pi was so touched that he spared his brother.
Musk hasn't yet revealed why he tweeted the poem, or why he labeled it "Humankind." It's baffled people on Chinese social media.
"He must be pretending to be controlled by an AI again," wrote one user on the social media platform Weibo.
"Who can tell me what he means by posting this?" another said.
One theory amassing support on both Twitter and Weibo is that Musk chose the poem to refer to a battle between Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency backed by the multibillionaire, and rival Shiba Inu coin.
According to their theory, the Chinese word for bean is pronounced "dou," which sounds similar to Doge.
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