Elon Musk posts cryptic tweet about a mysterious Chinese poem that now keeps everyone guessing about his next move

Tech Startups

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is known for stirring the pot and setting the internet ablaze with his cryptic tweets. Now the world’s richest person has decided to do it in another language. Yesterday evening, Musk posted a tweet with the English title, “Humankind” with the rest of the message in Chinese.

The tweet simply reads:

“Humankind
煮豆燃豆萁
豆在釜中泣
本是同根生
相煎何太急”

The tweet quickly generated attention on both Western and Chinese social media. It was also a trending topic on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, on Tuesday.

It’s still unclear what Musk intended. One Twitter user immediately translated the tweet to mean: “Humans are from the same ancestor, why are we so eager to destroy each other?” However, others are saying the tweet is in reference to a Chinese composition known as the “Quatrain of Seven Steps.” The poem is famous in China and refers to a spat between brothers.

According to people familiar with the origin of the poem, the poem is often attributed to Cao Zhi, son of an ancient Chinese warlord, who was said to live during the Three Kingdoms era (220 to 280 AD). Legend has it that Cao’s elder brother, a newly crowned king, was jealous of Cao’s talent.

However, another Twitter user said the poem is a metaphor, adding that “The author was asked to write a poem by his brother(which is also the emperor) or he will be executed because his brother regarded him as the main political rival. He came up with this poem and moved his brother and then decide not to kill him…