📖 Meaning
To deceive oneself by ignoring obvious facts. It describes a person who tries to hide a problem from others while remaining fully aware of it themselves, much like covering one's own ears while stealing a bell.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from the story recorded in the Lüshi Chunqiu (吕氏春秋), a text compiled during the Warring States period under the patronage of Lü Buwei of the Qin state. A thief tried to steal a large bell from a market but found it too heavy to carry. He decided to smash it into pieces, but the ringing sound drew attention. He then covered his own ears, believing that if he could not hear the noise, no one else could either. The story satirizes the absurdity of self-deception.
💡 Example Usage
他以为把收据藏起来就能逃税，简直是掩耳盗铃。
He thought hiding the receipts would help him evade taxes—it's nothing but deceiving himself.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 掩耳盗铃
- Pinyin: yǎn ěr dào líng
- Literal Translation: cover, ear, steal, bell
- Category: Logic
- Characters: 4