绕床弄青梅

繞床弄青梅
ràochuángnòngqīngméi
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 circling the bed, playing with green plums
  2. 2 Li Bai's image of a little girl and boy playing around a couch — second half of the 竹马 (bamboo-horse) scene

Examples

Tāmen cóng yòu'éryuán jiù rènshi, "láng qí zhú mǎ lái, rào chuáng nòng qīng méi".
They've known each other since kindergarten — 'the boy came riding a bamboo horse, circling the bed playing with green plums.'
Huà zhōng de háizi rào chuáng nòng qīng méi, tiānzhēn kě'ài.
The children in the painting circle the bed with green plums — innocent and sweet.

Tips

history
From 《》 by 李白 (Li Bai, Tang dynasty): '马来青梅.' The couplet (paired with 马来 earlier in this batch) is the origin of the Chinese term 青梅竹马 for childhood sweethearts.
usage
in Tang-era poetry often meant 'a couch / a well railing / a frame,' not a modern bed — hence 'circled the couch.' Scholarly debate continues, but ('well railing') is the leading modern reading.

Stroke Order

rào
chuáng
nòng
qīng
méi