During the late Eastern Han Dynasty, a brilliant but arrogant scholar named Mi Heng arrived in Xuchang, the newly established capital under Emperor Xian. While ambitious talents flocked to curry favor with powerful officials, Mi Heng wandered aimlessly for days, unsure whom to approach. When a friend asked, "Why not visit the esteemed Chen Qun or Sima Lang?" Mi Heng scoffed, "Do you think I would associate with butchers and wine sellers?" Pressed further about the influential Xun Yu and Zhao Rong, he sneered, "Xun Yu is only fit to mourn the dead, and Zhao Rong to manage a kitchen!" His biting wit and refusal to bow to anyone ultimately sealed his tragic fate. This story reminds us that while confidence is admirable, unchecked arrogance can alienate even the most talented.
One day, Mi Heng encountered a friend on the road. The friend asked him, "Who are you working for now?" Mi Heng replied, "I haven't decided yet." "Why not join Chen Qun and Sima Lang?" the friend suggested. Mi Heng retorted angrily, "How could I associate with those butchers and wine sellers of lowly birth?" "Then what about Xun Yu and Zhao Zhichang?" the friend pressed. Mi Heng sneered, "Xun Yu has a handsome face, fit only for lending his looks to funerals; Zhao Zhichang loves meat and has a big belly, good only for supervising the kitchen."
Chen Qun and Xun Yu were all strategists and generals serving under Cao Cao. A friend glanced at him and thought, "Mi Heng, you are far too arrogant."
"Then, who exactly do you have in mind?" "My eldest son Kong Rong, my youngest son Yang Xiu; the rest are mediocre and not worth mentioning!"
In reality, Kong Rong was twenty years older than him, and Yang Xiu was two years older. Both were also literary figures serving under Cao Cao.
Kong Rong greatly admired Mi Heng's talent and repeatedly recommended him to Cao Cao. When Cao Cao summoned Mi Heng, Mi Heng claimed to be mentally ill and refused to go. Cao Cao wanted to kill him but hesitated, considering his talent. Hearing that Mi Heng was an excellent drummer, Cao Cao appointed him as a drum official.
At a grand banquet, Cao Cao ordered Mi Heng to play the drum, intending to humiliate him publicly, but Mi Heng turned the tables and humiliated Cao Cao instead. Enraged, Cao Cao sent him to Liu Biao, the governor of Jingzhou, where Mi Heng repeatedly offended him. Liu Biao then passed him on to Huang Zu, the governor of Jiangxia, where Mi Heng insulted Huang Zu to his face and was executed on the spot—he was only 26 years old.
Later, the idiom "Having No One Else in One's Eyes" came to describe someone who is arrogant and looks down on others.
Source: *Book of the Later Han*, Chapter "Biography of Mi Heng"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "目无余子" came to describe how someone is arrogant and looks down on others.