撲朔迷離

See also: 扑朔迷离

Chinese

		complicated and confusing	eyes narrowed; blurred; unclear eyes narrowed; blurred; unclear; vague; hard to make out
trad. (撲朔迷離)		撲朔	迷離
simp. (扑朔迷离)		扑朔	迷离

Etymology

From The Ballad of Mulan (《木蘭詩》):

雄兔腳撲朔，雌兔眼迷離。雙兔傍地走，安能辨我是雄雌？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]

---

雄兔脚扑朔，雌兔眼迷离。双兔傍地走，安能辨我是雄雌？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: 6th century, 《木蘭詩》 (The Ballad of Mulan)

Xióng tù jiǎo pūshuò, cí tù yǎn mílí. Shuāng tù bàng dì zǒu, ān néng biàn wǒ shì xióng cí? [Pinyin]

The buck bounds here and there,
Whilst the doe has narrow eyes.
But when the two rabbits run side by side,
How can you tell the female from the male?

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): pūshuòmílí

  (Zhuyin): ㄆㄨ ㄕㄨㄛˋ ㄇㄧˊ ㄌㄧˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): pok³ sok³ mai⁴ lei⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: pūshuòmílí
    • Zhuyin: ㄆㄨ ㄕㄨㄛˋ ㄇㄧˊ ㄌㄧˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: pushuòmílí
    • Wade–Giles: pʻu¹-shuo⁴-mi²-li²
    • Yale: pū-shwò-mí-lí
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: pushuohmili
    • Palladius: пушомили (pušomili)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰu⁵⁵ ʂu̯ɔ⁵¹ mi³⁵ li³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: pok³ sok³ mai⁴ lei⁴
    • Yale: pok sok màih lèih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: pok⁸ sok⁸ mai⁴ lei⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: pog³ sog³ mei⁴ léi⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰɔːk̚³ sɔːk̚³ mɐi̯²¹ lei̯²¹/

Idiom

撲朔迷離

1. confusing; bewildering