Once more, I do not post links directly leading to any blogs that are not from my mutual friends and followers regarding meta, anon, but I will break this down.
In cultural context, it is not meant to be romantic regarding the idiom of (青梅竹馬) qīng méi zhú mǎ. Literal meaning, green plums and play horses. The innocence of youth and the wonder of simple (childhood friend) games. Please note that endearments such as "sweet heart" in modern context, as the direct translation means, is vastly different than what is entailed by the idiom itself, and is bad, awful machine translation that does not take into account the linguistic meanings that are needed for tone meaning and reading.
If it meant the direct romantic connotation of romantic, it would be 恋人 (liàn rén) compared to the character used within the idiom 青 (qíng) (which does denote a more platonic meaning for the relationship and childhood friends). You do not use this to mean "lovers" as an idiom, it loses contextual meaning otherwise and loses the point of the word play.
The poem itself was originally a romantic poem, by Li Bai. And as such should be one of most well known Chinese poets and usual literary fair elementary students know as much as the West would with the usual school fare of reading assignments.
妾髮初覆額
折花門前劇
郎騎竹馬來
遶床弄青梅
同居長干里
兩小無嫌猜
十四為君婦
羞顏未嘗開
低頭向暗壁
千喚不一回
十五始展眉
願同塵與灰
常存抱柱信
豈上望夫臺
十六君遠行
瞿塘灩澦堆
五月不可觸
猿聲天上哀
門前遲行跡
一一生綠苔
苔深不能掃
落葉秋風早
八月蝴蝶黃
雙飛西園草
感此傷妾心
坐愁紅顏老
早晚下三巴
預將書報家
相迎不道遠
直至長風沙
My hair had hardly covered my forehead.
I was picking flowers,playing by my door,
When you, on a bamboo horse,
Came trotting in circles, throwing green plums.
We lived near together on a lane in Channggan,
Both of us young and happy-hearted.
...At fourteen I became your wife,
So bashful that I dared not smile,
And I lowered my head toward a dark corner
And would not turn to your thousand calls;
But at fifteen I straightened my brows and laughed,
Learning that no dust could ever seal our love,
That even unto death I would await you by my post
And would never lose heart in the tower of silent watching.
...Then when I was sixteen, you left on a long journey
Through the Gorges of Changgan, of rock and whirling water.
And then came the Fifth-month, more than I could bear,
And I tried to hear the monkeys in your lofty far-off sky.
Your footprints by our door, where I had watched you go,
Were hidden, every one of them, under green moss,
Hidden under moss too deep to sweep away.
And the first autumn wind added fallen leaves.
And now, in the Eighth-month, yellowing butterflies
Hover, two by two, in our west-garden grasses
And, because of all this, my heart is breaking
And I fear for my bright cheeks, lest they fade.
...Oh, at last, when you return through the three Pa districts,
Send me a message to home you come
And I will come and meet you and pay no mind to the distance,
All the way to Changgan.
I hope in comparison the vast sarcasm of the idiom is apparent in context to what the random nameless gossiper is exhibiting in the original reference this sentence used:
1: Jiang Cheng allowed that servant to live for too long. If I were him, when he defected, I wouldn’t have just stabbed him, I would have thoroughly wiped him out so he couldn’t commit his deranged acts later. Who cares about the sentiments about childhood friendship when people like him don’t care.”
2:
“I can’t believe Jiang Cheng allowed that guy to run amok for so long. If it were me, I wouldn’t have just stabbed him when he first defected, I would’ve cleaned house! He wouldn’t even have gotten the chance to do all those crazy things. What does a childhood friendship matter when facing people like him?”
3:
Jiang Cheng allowed this fellow to live for too long. If I were him, at the time of the defection, I wouldn’t have just stabbed him. In fact, I would have thoroughly examined the disciples of the clan again, so that he doesn’t do those crazy things he did later on. Who cares about the so called ‘considerations’ that he gave to his childhood friend.”
Now, with the idea that while the original meaning was meant to be sweet and sentimental, the idiom is certainly not any longer nor is the meaning to mean lover literally. Mandarin plays heavy upon the context of meaning for each of these words.
In short: this is why actual understanding of the language you are lecturing of is important as you can easily twist it to what is not there for ones that literally do not know and take it all at face value.
China Western Han Dynasty Painted Female Figurines (early and middle period of Western Han)
China National Museum Western Han Dynasty Woman Restoration Wax Sculpture
[Hanfu · 漢服]China Western Han Dynasty Chinese Traditional Clothing Hanfu :【Liu Xijun's Clothing Story|The first Heqin Princess (marriage alliance) who name was recorded at history actually are the daughter of a Criminal Prince?】
Cooperate with 【 @MYONS弥玥泉 Miyuequan hydrating spray 】
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【History About Princess Xijun of Han Dynasty 】
Liu Xijun (Chinese: 劉細君;123?–101 BC), also known as Princess Xijun (細君公主), Princess of Jiangdu (Chinese: 江都公主) or the Princess of Wusun (Chinese: 烏孫公主), was a princess of the Han dynasty sent to marry the King of Wusun(烏孫) as marriage alliance. A poem said to be by her is one of the earliest known Chinese poems attributable to a named woman.
Liu Xijun was the daughter of the King of Jiangdu (in modern-day Yangzhou, Jiangsu), Liu Jian (劉建) and granddaughter of Liu Fei, brother of Emperor Wu of Han. Xijun was orphaned while still an infant. Her father was described as incestuous, cruel and depraved, and had to commit suicide after being implicated in a rebellion. Her mother was also executed the same year for “practicing witchcraft”. As daughter of disgraced parents, she would likely have a low status at the Han court.
In 105 BC, Xijun's status was elevated and she was made a princess by Emperor Wu(漢武帝). The emperor wanted to send her off to marry the king (Kunmi or Kunmo) of the Wusun, Liejiaomi (猎驕靡), with the intention of forming an alliance with the Wusun and breaking up the confederacy of the Xiongnu. After a gift of 1,000 horses from the Wusun were sent to the Han court, she was sent to the Wusun 5,000 miles away in the Ili valley area with a retinue of 100 officials, eunuchs, servants and carriages. After her marriage, she was made Lady of the Right, a position subordinate to the Lady of the Left who was of Xiongnu origin.
However, her husband was elderly, she rarely saw him and could not communicate with him. Two years after she married to Wusun King, The Wusun King died. Most of the ancient nomadic had the custom of "Shouji Marriage/ Widow inheritance(收继婚)"which mean a custom that compulsory marriage of a widow to a brother of her deceased husband etc. In the case of the royal family, it is necessary to marry the next King. Xijun is the King's Lady, after the king's death, she needs to marry the next king according to the custom, and the next king was her husband grandson Cenzou (岑陬).
Although Xijun protested such remarriage which was considered improper in Han Chinese custom and beg to Emperor Wu (漢武帝) to let her return to Han, the Emperor Wu (漢武帝) replied that she should comply as the alliance with Wusun was deemed necessary to vanquish the Xiongnu (匈奴). She duly married Cenzou, who became king after Liejiaomi died. She had a daughter with him in 102 BC, and died the following year.She died at the age of 21, and never returned to her country in her life. A further princess named Princess Jieyou was sent to marry Cenzou (岑陬) after her death.
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A poem credited to Xijun is given in Hanshu:
【悲愁歌/ Song of Sorrow 】
悲愁歌吾家嫁我兮天一方,
My family married me off to the edge of the world
遠托異國兮烏孫王。
Far away in the strange land of the Wusun king
穹廬為室兮旃為牆,
A domed hut is my chamber, the felt my walls
以肉為食兮酪為漿。
Meat is my food, fermented milk my drink
居常土思兮心內傷,
Living here, I long for my land, and my heart aches
願為黃鵠兮歸故鄉。
Wishing I could be a yellow swan,and return to my old home
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In the history that has lasted for hundreds of years, the marriage of princesses to foreign country/tribe has become a common diplomatic method. Countless women who shoulder the heavy trust of the empire and share the name of "Princess" go to foreign countries alone to complete the mission of unknown answer.Their fate is forced to conform to the torrent of the times, it is a sigh.
Your tears glisten with pain in their fragility
The pale crescent hooks the past
The endless night has crystallised into frost
Who is it in the loft, destitute with cold hopelessness?
The rain slowly patters on the vermillon window
My life is a tattered page battered by the winds
Far-off dreams fading into mist
Your image has been dissipated by the wind
Wilted chrysanthemums are spread across the floor; even your smile has turned faintly yellow
The falling flowers induce sadness, and my thoughts languish
In the passing of the north wind and the dusk, your shadow lingers on
And standing by the lake, I only have my own reflection for company
Responding to the dusk, the flowers shed their brilliant shine
They wilter on life's path, meeting a tragic fate
Don't cross the river in melancholy, if you ain't broke your melancholy.
You may spend a lifetime drifting, never reaching the shore
Whose empire is it now? The sound of horse hoofs thunders in the distance.
My resplendent armour decays with the hounds of time
Your soft sigh heralds the first ray of dawn
The conclusion to another restless night
Wilted chrysanthemums are spread across the floor; even your smile has turned faintly yellow
The falling flowers induce sadness, and my thoughts languish
In the passing of the north wind and the dusk, your shadow lingers on
And standing by the lake, I only have my own reflection for company