Chinese idiom · 成语
视而不见
Meaning
To look but not see; willful blindness.
Character by character
Origin and story
Classical sayingThe Great Learning, preserved in the Book of Rites, explains that when the mind is not present, a person looks without seeing, listens without hearing, and eats without noticing the taste. The words belong to a discussion of attending to and rectifying the mind. The original example is therefore about awareness, not simply a deliberate decision to disregard another person.
The same expression later became common for treating an obvious fact or problem as though it did not exist. Both senses retain the contrast between physical sight and meaningful attention. It may describe absent-mindedness, but in criticism it often implies purposeful indifference.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
楼道里的灯坏了这么久，物业不能一直视而不见。
The hallway light has been broken for so long; building management can't keep ignoring it.
Can mean inattentiveness or deliberate disregard; context distinguishes them.