During the reign of Emperor Zhang of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there lived a scholar named Liang Hong. A native of Fufeng Pingling (northwest of modern Xianyang, Shaanxi), his father had once served as an official but died in a foreign land, leaving the family to grow increasingly impoverished.
Despite his humble background, Liang Hong was an exceptionally diligent student, earning a modest reputation in his hometown. He later traveled to the capital to study at the Imperial Academy, the highest institution of learning during the Han Dynasty, where Confucian classics were taught. To support himself, he worked as a swineherd in the Shanglin Garden after class, a job that drew scorn from wealthy students. Unfazed by these privileged youths, Liang Hong remained aloof and proud, even insisting on cooking his own meals separately from theirs.
One day, a fellow student at the Imperial Academy, after lighting a fire to cook, noticed that Liang Hong had not yet started his own fire. Kindly, he invited Liang Hong to use his hot cookware to save trouble. But Liang Hong refused the favor, declaring loudly, "No, thank you! I, Liang Hong, have never used another's pots to cook my meals." With that, Liang Hong lit his own fire and cooked separately.
Three years later, Liang Hong graduated from the Imperial Academy and returned home, marrying the plain-looking woman Meng Guang before retreating to live in seclusion on Baling Mountain. Once, passing through Luoyang on business, he composed a satirical poem titled "Song of Five Sighs," which criticized the rulers and led to a pursuit. Liang Hong fled with Meng Guang to the Wu region (modern-day Suzhou), where they worked as hired laborers pounding rice, living in extreme poverty until Liang Hong fell ill and died in a foreign land.
Later, the idiom "Not Borrowing Others' Fire" came to describe a person of proud and independent character who refuses to rely on others' authority.
Source: *Dongguan Hanji*, "Biography of Liang Hong"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "不因人热" came to describe a person of proud and independent character who refuses to rely on others' authority.