During the Spring and Autumn period, King Shoumeng of Wu had four sons: the eldest Zhufan, the second Yuji, the third Yumei, and the fourth Jizha. Among them, Jizha was the most virtuous and talented, so King Shoumeng favored him the most.
In 561 BCE, King Shoumeng of Wu lay gravely ill. Summoning his four sons, he declared, "I wish to break tradition and pass the throne to my youngest, Jizha." But Jizha firmly refused, unwilling to disrupt the established order. Turning to his eldest son, Zhufan, the king said, "I wanted Jizha to rule, but he rejects the change. When you ascend, do not forget my dying wish."
After Shou Meng died, Zhufan inherited the throne. He and Yuji and Yumei made an oath: from now on, the throne would be passed among brothers in order, and finally Jizha must succeed.
As predicted, after Zhufan's death, the throne passed to Yuji; after Yuji's death, it passed to Yumei. Throughout this time, Jizha served his brothers with unwavering loyalty, assisting in state affairs and earning a reputation for wisdom that spread far and wide.
On his deathbed, Yumei, following the oath, wanted to pass the throne to Jizha. But Jizha still firmly refused. He said:
"Before Father King passed away, I made my stance clear—I would not inherit the throne. As long as one acts with integrity and noble character, wealth and honor are nothing but autumn wind passing by the ears, not worth clinging to."
To make his intentions absolutely clear, he went directly to his fiefdom and lived in seclusion, only returning to court after Yumei's son Liao ascended the throne, where he then assisted King Liao of Wu in governing the state.
Twelve years later, Prince Guang, the eldest son of Zhufan, assassinated King Liao of Wu through a treacherous plot. To avoid public condemnation, he hypocritically offered the throne to Jizha. Jizha not only sternly refused but also harshly rebuked him, saying, "You have murdered your sovereign and now seek to silence criticism by offering me the crown? I will have no part in your treachery."
After Prince Guang ascended the throne, Ji Zha fled back to his fief, Yanling, where he lived in seclusion until his death, never returning to the Wu capital.
Later, the idiom "Autumn Wind Passing the Ear" came to be used as a metaphor for being utterly indifferent to something, like the autumn wind that passes by the ear.
Source: Zhao Ye (Eastern Han Dynasty), *The Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue*
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "秋风过耳" came to describe being utterly indifferent to something, like the autumn wind that passes by the ear.