The Quatrain of Seven Steps seven strides such that Cao Pi is convinced of his innocence. Cao Zhi does so, and Cao Pi becomes so flustered with emotion that he spares his brother, although he later exacts punishment upon Cao Zhi in the form of demotion. The poem itself is written in the traditional "five-character quatrain" style and is an extended metaphor that describes the relationship of two brothers and the ill-conceived notion of one harming the other over petty squabbling. There exists two versions of the poem, one being six lines in length and the other four. The former is generally thought to be
Regulated verse are rhymed on the even lines, with one rhyme being used throughout the poem. Also, and definitionally, the tonal profile of the poem is controlled (that is, "regulated"). Furthermore, semantic and tonal parallelism is generally required of certain interior couplets. During the Tang Dynasty, the "Shen-Song" team of Shen Quanqi and Song Zhiwen greatly contributed to the development of this Classical Chinese verse form. Regulated verse consisting of the three "jintishi" or "new style poetry" forms of "lushi", "jueju", and "pailu" while retaining the basic characteristics that are distinguished from the "gushi" or "old style poetry" by the addition of