明枪易躲,暗箭难防

míng qiāng yì duǒ , àn jiàn nán fáng

lit. easy to dodge the spear in the open, hard to avoid a stab in the dark (idiom); it is hard to guard against secret conspiracies

míng

bright

qiāng

variant of 槍|枪[qiang1]

abbr. for 易經|易经[Yi4 jing1], the Book of Changes

duǒ

to hide

,

àn

(literary) to close (a door)

jiàn

arrow

nán

difficult (to...)

fáng

to protect