Chinese idiom · 成语
掩人耳目
Meaning
To cover people’s ears and eyes; to deceive others.
Character by character
Origin and story
literary narrativeThe popular historical narrative Da Song Xuanhe Yishi presents the official Cao Fu rebuking Emperor Huizong for leaving the palace in disguise to visit the entertainer Li Shishi. Cao's argument is that an emperor cannot expect such conduct to remain unseen or unheard: public knowledge and the historical record will outlast attempts at concealment. This belongs to a literary account of the Song court, whose dramatic episodes should not all be treated as independently verified events. Later usage focuses on deception more broadly: creating an innocent appearance so that observers fail to notice what is really happening.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
他给抄来的文章换了标题，想借此掩人耳目。
He changed the title of the article he had copied, hoping to conceal the plagiarism.
Usually critical: an appearance or diversion is used to hide the truth from others.