实事求是

shí shì qiú shì

to seek truth from facts; to be practical and honest

Character by character

实shí
real

事shì
facts

求qiú
seek

是shì
truth

做研究要实事求是，不能改数据。

In research you must go by the facts; you cannot alter the data.

Tone: positive (praise).

From the 《汉书》; made a political motto by Mao and then Deng.

Learn this in Lesson 51 · HSK 6: 改革开放 (Reform and opening up)

A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. This lesson is free.