During the Xia Dynasty, there was a master archer named Hou Yi.
One day, the King of Xia pointed to a target one square meter in size, with a bull's-eye only about one centimeter in diameter, and said to Hou Yi: "If you hit the bull's-eye, I will award you one thousand pieces of gold. But if you miss, I will take back the thousand li of land granted to you."
Hou Yi then drew his bow to shoot. However, he felt extremely nervous, his face turning alternately red and pale. Unable to calm his flustered mind, he missed the target with his first arrow and missed again with the second.
The King of Xia was surprised and asked his minister, Mi Ren: "Usually, Hou Yi never misses. Why did he fail today?"
Mi Ren replied: "Hou Yi missed because his unstable state of mind affected his skill. The prospect of the large reward caused his error. If one could disregard personal gain and loss, setting aside both generous rewards and severe punishments, then anyone could become a master archer."