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During the Spring and Autumn period, Ziwu and Ziliang, brothers from the Ruo'ao clan of the State of Chu, both held official positions. Sima Ziliang had a fierce son named Dou Yuejiao. Lingyin Ziwu disliked this child, saying he had the ambition of a wolf cub and would bring about the demise of the entire clan.
Later, Dou Yuejiao became a Sima. He killed his cousin Ziyang to succeed him as Lingyin, secretly expanded his army, and rebelled. He was defeated by the King of Chu, leading to the extermination of the entire Ruo'ao clan.

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Open the tool →若敖之鬼 (ruò áo zhī guǐ) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to have no descendants to carry on the family line and offer sacrifices to ancestors; referring to the demise of a family and the lack of heirs”.
若敖之鬼 is pronounced ruò áo zhī guǐ in Mandarin Chinese.
Literally, 若敖之鬼 means “Ghosts of Ruo'ao”. It is used to mean “to have no descendants to carry on the family line and offer sacrifices to ancestors; referring to the demise of a family and the lack of heirs”.
若敖之鬼 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
若敖:指春秋时楚国的若敖氏。若敖氏的鬼将因灭宗而无人祭祀。比喻没有后代,无人祭祀。