Pinyin:
zhēng yì zhī yǎn bì yì zhī yǎn
Meaning:
故意装作没看见，比喻对不好的或不应该的事不关心、不管。
turn a blind eye to something
Character breakdown and explanation:
睁：open (eyes)
一：one
只：measure word for one of a pair
眼：eye
闭：shut
The act of opening one eye and closing the other is a metaphor for pretending not to see. This metaphor often indicates the act of conniving certain norms and principals. Another way to express this metaphor is “睁只眼闭只眼” and the preposition “对” is often used with the metaphor.
Example sentences:
她早就知道丈夫有外遇，可为了保全家庭，只好睁一只眼闭一只眼。
Tā zǎo jiù zhīdao zhàngfu yǒu wàiyù, kě wèile bǎoquán jiātíng, zhǐ hǎo zhēng yì zhī yǎn bì yì zhī yǎn.
She already knew that her husband is having an affair, but in order to protect the family, she turned a blind eye.
对学生在考场上作弊的事，他常常是睁只眼闭只眼。
Duì xuésheng zài kǎochǎng shàng zuòbì de shì, tā chángcháng shì zhēng zhī yǎn bì zhī yǎn.
He often turns a blind eye on the issue of students cheating on tests.
