掩耳盜鈴

Chinese

		cover up; to surprise	ear	steal; rob; plunder steal; rob; plunder; a thief; bandit; robber	(small) bell
trad. (掩耳盜鈴)		掩	耳	盜	鈴
simp. (掩耳盗铃)		掩	耳	盗	铃
alternative forms		盜鐘掩耳／盗钟掩耳 盜鈴掩耳／盗铃掩耳 竊鈴掩耳／窃铃掩耳 塞耳盜鐘／塞耳盗钟 塞耳偷鈴／塞耳偷铃 盜鐘掩耳／盗钟掩耳 盜鈴掩耳／盗铃掩耳 竊鈴掩耳／窃铃掩耳 塞耳盜鐘／塞耳盗钟 塞耳偷鈴／塞耳偷铃 掩耳盜鐘／掩耳盗钟 掩耳偷鈴／掩耳偷铃
anagram		盜鈴掩耳／盗铃掩耳
Literally: “to cover one’s ears while stealing a bell”.

Etymology

From a story in Lüshi Chunqiu:

范氏之亡也，百姓有得鐘者，欲負而走。則鐘大不可負，以椎毀之，鐘況然有音。恐人聞之而奪己也，遽揜其耳。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

---

范氏之亡也，百姓有得钟者，欲负而走。则钟大不可负，以椎毁之，钟况然有音。恐人闻之而夺己也，遽揜其耳。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Lü Buwei, Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals, 239 BCE

Fàn shì zhī wáng yě, bǎixìng yǒu dé zhōng zhě, yù fù ér zǒu. Zé zhōng dà bùkě fù, yǐ chúi huǐ zhī, zhōng huàngrán yǒu yīn. Kǒng rén wén zhī ér duó jǐ yě, jù yǎn qí ěr. [Pinyin]

When the Fan family was wiped out, there was a thief who wanted to carry their bell on his back and leave. Since the bell was too big for him to carry, he smashed it with a hammer, but the bell clanged loudly. For fear that people would hear it and take it from him, he quickly covered his ears.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yǎn'ěrdàolíng

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄢˇ ㄦˇ ㄉㄠˋ ㄌㄧㄥˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jim² ji⁵ dou⁶ ling⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yǎn'ěrdàolíng [Phonetic: yáněrdàolíng]
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄢˇ ㄦˇ ㄉㄠˋ ㄌㄧㄥˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yǎn-ěrdàolíng
    • Wade–Giles: yen³-êrh³-tao⁴-ling²
    • Yale: yǎn-ěr-dàu-líng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yeaneeldawling
    • Palladius: яньэрдаолин (janʹerdaolin)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɛn²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ˀɤɻ²¹⁴⁻²¹ tɑʊ̯⁵¹ liŋ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jim² ji⁵ dou⁶ ling⁴
    • Yale: yím yíh douh lìhng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jim² ji⁵ dou⁶ ling⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: yim² yi⁵ dou⁶ ling⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiːm³⁵ jiː¹³ tou̯²² lɪŋ²¹/

Idiom

掩耳盜鈴

1. (figurative) to fool oneself; to bury one's head in the sand

   • 那怕再念三十本《詩經》，也是掩耳盜鈴，哄人而已。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     那怕再念三十本《诗经》，也是掩耳盗铃，哄人而已。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: Cao Xueqin, Dream of the Red Chamber, mid-18^th century CE

     Nàpà zài niàn sānshí běn “shījīng”, yěshì yǎn'ěrdàolíng, hǒngrén éryǐ. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • 他雖用綾遮蓋，以掩眾人耳目，那知卻是掩耳盜鈴。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     他虽用绫遮盖，以掩众人耳目，那知却是掩耳盗铃。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: 《鏡花緣》第一四回

     Tā suī yòng líng zhēgài, yǐ yǎn zhòngrén ěrmù, nà zhī quèshì yǎn'ěrdàolíng. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Synonyms

• 自欺欺人 (zìqīqīrén)

References

• “Entry #155580”, in 重編國語辭典修訂本 [Revised Mandarin Chinese Dictionary] (in Chinese), National Academy for Educational Research (Taiwan), 2021.