Literal Meaning: killing two eagles with one arrow
Metaphorical Meaning: achieving two things with one stroke

In the period of the North and South Dynasties (420-589 AD), there was a man named Zhangsun Sheng in the North Zhou Dynasty whose capital was Luoyang (present Luoyang City in Henan Province). He was intelligent and skillful in martial arts. When he was eighteen, he became an official in the army, mainly responsible for protecting the ruler of the North Zhou Dynasty (557-581 AD). However, Yang Jian, the founder of Sui Dynasty (581-617 AD), appreciated him mostly and thought he could be a famous general years later.

At that time, to the north lived the Turks who had good relationship with the North Zhou. Both countries sent emissaries to visit each other. But the Head of Turks She Tu always looked down upon the emissaries from North Zhou.

One day, Zhangsun Sheng accompanied Yuwen Shenqing to visit the Turks. She Tu also admired Zhangsun’s talent. He even told Yuwen Shenqing that he wanted Zhangsun to stay in his country for a while. Yuwen Shenqing agreed on She Tu’s request and Zhangsun Sheng stayed in Turks’ country for a long time. Each time when She Tu went out for hunting, he always asked Zhangsun Sheng to accompany him.

Some day when She Tu was hunting, he saw two eagles in the sky, fighting for a piece of meat. He gave Zhangsun Sheng two arrows and asked him to kill the two eagles with the arrows. After getting this arrow, Zhangsun quickly got onto his horse and approached the eagles. Without any hesitation, he launched one arrow and killed the two eagles at the same time. Every one seeing that cheered for Zhangsun’s excellent skills in archery. She Tu was also very glad and required his soldiers to learn the archery from Zhangsun Sheng.