honest speech and severe countenance

honest speech and severe countenance

It is a Chinese idiom. Pinyin is w ē iy á nzh è ngs è, which means upright speech and serious attitude. It comes from the book of Jianling driving to Beijing written by Chen Ziang of Tang Dynasty.

The origin of Idioms

Chen Zi'ang's book of admonishing Ling Jia to enter Beijing said: "we must wait for the extraordinary master, and then criticize him, protest and speak straight, but Zhao Tang Hale did not return."

Idiom usage

To be an attributive or adverbial; to be faithful

Examples

She admonished you in a critical way, hoping to stop as soon as possible.