During the final years of the Qin Dynasty, the rebel leaders Xiang Yu and Liu Bang raised armies against the tyrannical Qin court, installing Xin, the grandson of the former King Huai of Chu, as their figurehead ruler—still styled as King Huai of Chu. With Qin forces still formidable, King Huai dispatched Liu Bang to march westward and seize Qin territory.
As Liu Bang led his army westward to join other commanders in attacking Changyi, they failed to take the city and detoured west through Gaoyang in Chenliu Commandery. A Confucian scholar named Li Yiji, serving as the gatekeeper of Gaoyang, watched the future emperor pass through the city gate and marveled, "Many generals have come through here, but in my eyes, only Lord Pei will rise to greatness." He then requested an audience with Liu Bang.
When Li Yiji entered the future Han founder Liu Bang's quarters, Liu Bang was washing his feet and refused to stand or greet his guest, displaying extreme arrogance. Li Yiji did not kneel either, but merely raised his hands above his head in a bow and said, "If you are truly determined to overthrow the tyrannical Qin dynasty, you should not treat an elder with such rudeness." Liu Bang immediately stood up, straightened his robes and cap, sincerely apologized, and invited Li Yiji to take the seat of honor before asking for advice on conquering Qin. Li Yiji suggested first capturing Chenliu Commandery to seize the Qin granaries. Following this plan, Liu Bang took Chenliu and obtained a vast supply of grain. Source: *Records of the Grand Historian*, "Biographies of the Scholars"
Afterward, Liu Bang appointed Li Yiji as the Lord of Guangye.
A long bow (chang yi) was an ancient ritual where one raised both hands high and bowed from top to bottom. Later, the idiom "a long bow without kneeling" came to describe a dignified, neither servile nor arrogant attitude.
Source: *Records of the Grand Historian*, Chapter "Annals of Gaozu"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "长揖不拜" came to describe how a dignified, neither servile nor arrogant attitude.