Highly Talented

Tsau Pi and Tsau Jr were sons of Tsau Tsau. Both were very gifted writers, and Tsau Jr was especially quick-witted.　

After Tsau Tsau's death, Tsau Pi took over the throne of the kingdom of wei. Jealous of Tsau Jr's literary ability, and afraid that he might cause problems, Tsau Pi was always looking for a way to kill his brother.

One day, Tsau Pi called Tsau Jr into see him.He ordered his brother to make up a poem within the time it took to walk seven steps, adding that if he could not, his life would be in danger.

Greatly saddened, Tsau Jr began to walk and to think. Before he had taken the seven steps, he had already finished his poem, the meaning of which was: "Brothers are of the same family, so why should the oppress each other?"

Tsau Jr was very intelligent and loved to study. He wrote many outstanding articles which showed his artistic talent and earned him the admiration of many people. One scholar said of him: "Heaven gave the world ten decalitres of talent, and Tsau Jr alone has eight of them."

Today, to say that a person "has eight decalitres of talent" is to say that he has a great aptitude for writing.

才高八斗

曹丕與曹植都是曹操的兒子，二者均有才華，特別是曹植更具文采。　　

在曹操死后，曹丕繼任大統(tǒng)，但他嫉妒曹植的才華，同時也懼怕曹植回謀反，所以一直在伺機殺害曹植。

有一天，曹丕要求接見曹植，他要求曹植在他七步之內作詩一首，如果做不到，就會有生命危險。　

悲憤之下，曹植急中生智，作出七步詩，是的意思就是“本來就是親兄弟，為什么要這樣步步緊逼，傷及感情？”

曹植文采俱佳，熱愛學習，他曾做過不少才華橫溢的文賦，均令世人感嘆不已。曾有一位學者說道：“如若天下文采共有十斗，曹植一人獨占八斗?！?/span>

今天，如果我們說一個人“才高八斗”，就是指他“才華橫溢，很有文采”。