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This charming song is a real oldie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J68LSs565_A

It includes the following line:

忆童年时竹马青梅

I understand 竹马青梅 to be a reference to childhood things (竹马 would be playing horses with a piece of bamboo), and the singer is saying that she remembers her childhood.

I feel that 青梅 must also have a special meaning here connected to childhood. Literally it is just "green plums". Perhaps it's referring to orchards where children might play together?

What does 青梅 mean in this context?

Complete lyrics are below.

时光一逝永不回
往事只能回味
忆童年时竹马青梅
两小无猜日夜相随

春风又吹红了花蕊
你已经也添了新岁
你就要变心像时光难倒回
我只有在梦里相依偎
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  • 这种说法只是一种意象，与具体的物体“竹马”和“青梅”是什么东西并没有很大关系。就像有的地方抛绣球，抛荷包，或者现在的男女学生互相扔书。
    – PdotWang
    Commented Aug 19 at 15:19

2 Answers 2

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青梅竹马 came from a poem by Li Bai

唐·李白《长干行》：“郎骑竹马来，绕床弄青梅。同居长干里，两小无嫌猜。

  • 郎骑竹马来 "The boy came riding a bamboo stick horse (playing horse riding).

  • 绕床弄青梅 (两个人又玩起了抛青梅的游戏) Then the two played the green plum tossing game

抛青梅(green plum tossing game) and 骑竹马(riding a bamboo horse) were two activities the two friends engaged in when they were small, the idiom 青梅竹马 was coined on this context from the poem

Another idiom 两小无猜 came from the same poem as well

青梅竹马 = childhood friends

两小无猜 = two childhood friends who were pure-hearted to each other (unlike adults who sometimes have unpure thoughts)

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  • And 青梅 specifically refers to girls, 竹马 specifically refers to boys
    – typed-sigterm
    Commented Aug 6 at 12:19
  • Is it known how the green plum tossing game is/was played?
    – 河南宝宝
    Commented Aug 6 at 21:22
  • It described 抛青梅 in the page I linked "围着院中的井栏，你把青梅扔过来，我把青梅扔过去。 两个人无比高兴" It is like playing catch
    – Tang Ho ♦
    Commented Aug 7 at 3:01
  • From what I could gather, it does not seems like a well known, commonly or widely played children's game, like Hopscotch or marbles, but a spur of the moment fun thing when she happened to have some green plums in her hand and just decided to toss them to him who was standing on the other side of the well railing, caught them and tossed them back to her.
    – Wayne Cheah
    Commented Aug 7 at 8:44
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郎 骑 竹马 来 The boy came riding on a bamboo horse, (boy imitate prince charming)

绕 床 弄 青梅 Brought delicious green plums to girl, but he didn't give them to her. Instead, he naughtily let girl chase him around bed (床, bed, here means some buildings or walls) and beg for them. (how a naughty and unromantic boy)

竹马 青梅 source: bamboo horse (boy) green plums (girl)

the derived meaning is: childhood sweethearts.

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