绕床弄青梅

繞床弄青梅
rào chuáng nòng qīng méi
quotation

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, " lángqízhúmǎlái, ràochuángnòngqīngméi ".
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 ràochuángnòngqīngméi, 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