The idiom "扑朔迷离" is formed by extracting and combining two distinct phrases from the classical poem "Ballad of Mulan": "扑朔" originates from the line "雄兔脚扑朔" describing the male rabbit's kicking feet, and "迷离" comes from "雌兔眼迷离" depicting the female rabbit's blurred eyes; when joined, they create a compound term that metaphorically represents complexity and obscurity, based on the original context where distinguishing the rabbits was difficult.