Chinese

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!mirror; lens !high; tall !hang; suspend |- !trad. (明鏡高懸) | 明 | 鏡 | 高 | 懸 |- !simp. (明镜高悬) | 明 | 镜 | 高 | 悬 |}

Idiom

明鏡高懸

1. Perspicacious and impartial in judgment.
2. Your act is being watched.
3. A fair trial by an honest officer; the passing of the finest judgment.
4. A search for intelligence.

Usage notes

• The phrase literally means "a bright mirror hung high". According to Records of the Western Capital, Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, had a mirror which could show the good or evil of a person. This gave rise to the phrase.

References

• "míng jìng gāo xuán". (n.d.) Hanzi Pal. Accessed: 2013-08-14.
• "明镜高悬". (n.d.) Chinese-English dictionary. Accessed: 2013-08-14.