秉笔直书
bǐng bǐ zhí shū
to write the truth without fear or favour
Character by character
秉bǐng
hold
hold
笔bǐ
brush
brush
直zhí
straight
straight
书shū
write
write
Example
好的记者应该秉笔直书，不能只报道好听的。
A good journalist should write the plain truth, not just report what people like to hear.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
Said of historians and journalists, in formal writing. The model is ancient: in the 左传 the court historian of 齐 wrote that 崔杼 had murdered his lord; 崔杼 killed him and two of his brothers who wrote the same, and let the record stand when a third brother wrote it again.
Learn this in Lesson 88 · HSK 6–7: 司马迁与《史记》 (Sima Qian and the Records of the Grand Historian)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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