唱红脸

Traditional (Taiwan): 唱紅臉

chànghóngliǎn ㄔㄤˋ ㄏㄨㄥˊ ㄌㄧㄢˇ

    • to play the role of the hero (idiom)
    • to play the good cop

Character by character

Saying俗语俗語

Idiom惯用语 · In everyday use

Literally
to sing the red face
Meaning
To play the conciliating role, soothing and persuading while another person is stern. The counterpart of 唱白脸.

Sources