close the eyes to catch a bird

close the eyes to catch a bird

Chinese idiom, Pinyin is y ǎ nm ù B ǔ Qu è, which means to catch a flying bird by covering your eyes. It means to do something blindly or deceive yourself. It comes from the biography of Chen Lin in the history of the Three Kingdoms.

The origin of Idioms

According to Chen Shou's biography of Chen Lin in the annals of the Three Kingdoms, Wei Zhi, there is a saying that "the eye catches the bird.". You can't deceive a man to achieve his ambition even though he is a small man. What's more, he can deceive a big country to achieve his goal! "

Analysis of Idioms

To deceive oneself and others

Idiom usage

Combined; used as predicate and attribute; with derogatory meaning

Examples

As the saying goes, "hide your eyes and catch birds.". I don't see the bird, but the bird sees me. Zhu Xi's Zhu Zi Yu Lei (volume 72)

Idiom story

In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the struggle between eunuch and his relatives for the ruling power of the imperial court was very fierce. He Jin, his relatives, was in charge of the government. He wanted to secretly transfer Dong Zhuo to Beijing to eliminate the power of eunuch. Chen Lin, the director of He Jin, thinks that it doesn't work. It's just like catching birds in the dark. If you lose control, you will lose the initiative. He Jin didn't listen to Chen Lin's advice, but was killed by the eunuch.