The story goes that during the Warring States period, Bai Qi, a renowned general of the Qin state, led his troops to attack the state of Wei. A strategist named Su Li, upon learning of this, hurried to see the king of the Zhou dynasty and warned him: "If Wei is conquered by the Qin army, your own position will be in danger." At that time, the Zhou king was nominally the Son of Heaven, but in reality, he had lost all authority over the feudal states. If Wei were to be destroyed by Qin, Qin's power would become even stronger, posing a greater threat to the Zhou king. When the king asked Su Li what to do, Su Li advised him to immediately send someone to persuade Bai Qi to halt his offensive, and to tell Bai Qi a story.
Su Li recounted the following story that should be told to Bai Qi: In the state of Chu, there was a famous archer named Yang Youji. Even in his youth, he was exceptionally strong and had mastered superb archery skills. At that time, there was another brave warrior named Pan Hu, who was also skilled in archery.
One day, the two men were demonstrating their archery skills on a field, attracting a large crowd of onlookers. The target was set up fifty paces away, consisting of a wooden board with a red bullseye painted on it. Pan Hu drew his powerful bow and fired three arrows in succession, each hitting the bullseye dead center, earning loud cheers from the crowd. Pan Hu, feeling proud, bowed to Yang Youji and invited him to demonstrate in return. Yang Youji looked around and said, "Hitting a bullseye at fifty paces is too easy; the target is too close and too large. Let's try shooting at a willow leaf a hundred paces away!" With that, he pointed to a willow tree a hundred paces distant and had someone select a single leaf, painting it red as the new target. Then, drawing his bow, he fired with a "whoosh!"—and the arrow pierced the very center of the chosen willow leaf. The spectators were stunned. Pan Hu knew he lacked such extraordinary skill, but still doubted that Yang Youji could consistently hit willow leaves. He walked over to the willow tree, selected three leaves, and marked them with different colors, then asked Yang Youji to shoot them in the specified order. Yang Youji stepped forward a few paces to clearly see the markings, then retreated a hundred paces, drew his bow, and fired three arrows in quick succession—"swish, swish, swish!"—each one striking one of the numbered willow leaves. The crowd erupted in thunderous applause, and Pan Hu was completely convinced and humbled.
Amid the cheers, a man standing near Yang Youji coldly remarked, "Only when one can hit a willow leaf from a hundred paces is he ready to be taught archery!" Yang Youji, offended by the man's arrogance, turned angrily and asked, "How do you propose to teach me archery?" The man calmly replied, "I'm not here to teach you how to draw a bow and shoot. I'm here to remind you how to preserve your reputation as an archer. Have you considered that once your strength wanes, even one missed shot could damage your reputation for never missing? A true master archer should know how to protect his reputation!" Yang Youji found these words deeply insightful and thanked the man repeatedly.
The messenger sent by the Zhou king relayed this story to Bai Qi exactly as Su Li had described. After hearing it, Bai Qi reflected on the importance of preserving his own reputation for invincibility in battle. Unwilling to risk it lightly, he feigned illness and halted his advance against Wei. This story also gave rise to another idiom: "hitting the target every time" (bǎi fā bǎi zhòng).