Born in 192, Cao Zhi was the third son of the powerful warlord Cao Cao and Emperess Bian. Cao Zhi could recite the Shi Jing, or Book of Songs, Analects and more than ten thousand verses worth of poems before he even turned twenty. His literary talent made him a favorite son of Cao Cao in the early stage of his life.

However, Cao Zhi was an impetuous man with little self-discipline. He was also a heavy drinker. On the other hand, his elder brother Cao Pi was a shrewd man who knew how to feign emotions at the right times. Cao Pi's also enjoyed a closer relationship to the servants and subjects around Cao Cao, and they spoke well for him.

In 217, Cao Cao eventually picked Cao Pi to succeed himself. This aggravated Cao Zhi's eccentric behavior.

After the death of Cao Cao, Cao Zhi failed to turn up for the funeral. Men sent by Cao Pi found Cao Zhi drunk in his own house. Cao Zhi was then bound and brought to Cao Pi. When Emperess Bian, their common birth mother, heard of this, she went to Cao Pi and pled for the life of her younger son. Cao Pi agreed.

However, Cao Pi's Chief Secretariat Hua Xin then convinced him to put Cao Zhi's literary talent to a test. If Cao Zhi failed the test, it would be excuse enough to put him to death, Hua Xin suggested.

Cao Pi agreed and held audience with Cao Zhi, who in great trepidation bowed low and confessed his faults. On the wall there was a painting of two oxes fighting at the foot of a wall, and one of them was falling into a well. Cao Pi then told his brother to make a poem based on their fraternal relationship, without using the word "brother", within seven paces.

Cao Zhi took seven paces as instructed, and the poem was already formulated in his heart.