Original Text
When Minister of Revenue Bi Ziyan was appointed as Military Intendant to garrison Taozhou and Minzhou, a company commander named Yang Hualin came to greet him. As the procession of carriages and honor guards advanced, they happened upon a man squatting by the roadside to relieve himself. Yang Hualin drew his bow to shoot the man, but Bi hastily shouted to stop him. Yang said, "This knave is utterly insolent; let me give him a slight fright." Then he called out from afar, "You who squat in filth! I send you a hairpin of Kuaiji rattan to bind your topknot!" With that, he loosed an arrow, which struck the man's hair bun squarely. The fellow fled in panic, leaving his excrement splattered all over the ground.
Commentary
The author's original intention was to praise Captain Yang for his superb and accurate archery, yet to modern readers, it reveals a vile custom of the Chinese officialdom—that commoners must yield and make way whenever an official passes by.