Chinese idiom · 成语
掩耳盗铃
Meaning
To deceive oneself by ignoring reality; self-delusion.
Character by character
Origin and story
FableThe Zizhi (自知) chapter of Lüshi Chunqiu (呂氏春秋) describes someone trying to take a large bell after the Fan family’s downfall. It is too heavy to carry, so he decides to break it into pieces. As soon as he strikes it, it rings loudly. Afraid that others will hear, he covers his own ears—as though preventing himself from hearing could stop the sound from reaching anyone else.
The bell in the old passage is a large zhong (鐘), whereas the familiar idiom uses ling (鈴), usually a smaller bell. The essential point is self-deception: hiding a fact from your own awareness does not make it disappear or prevent other people from noticing it.
In everyday life
明明超支了，却把账单藏起来，这不是掩耳盗铃吗？
You know you’ve overspent, but you’re hiding the bills—isn’t that just fooling yourself?
A criticism of denying or concealing a problem that still exists.