瞒天过海
mán tiān guò hǎi
to deceive everyone by a bold trick; to cover something up in plain sight
Character by character
瞒mán
deceive
deceive
天tiān
heaven
heaven
过guò
cross
cross
海hǎi
sea
sea
Example
这家工厂想瞒天过海，把过期的食品换个包装再卖，结果被记者曝光了。
The factory tried to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes by repackaging out-of-date food and selling it again, but reporters exposed it.
Tone: negative (criticism).
Usage and origin
The first of the Thirty-Six Stratagems (三十六计). In the popular story, the Tang emperor Taizong, afraid to cross the sea, was invited to a feast in what seemed to be a rich man’s house hung with curtains; only when the wind roared and the curtains were drawn back did he see that he was already at sea, on a ship. Now of frauds and cover-ups: 企图瞒天过海, 瞒天过海的骗局.
Learn this in Lesson 238 · HSK 9+: 拍卖与赝品 (Auctions and fakes)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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