When will you look at the snow in the south? The plum blossoms and I will grow old. This is excerpted from "Qing Barnyard Notes" by the author Xu Ke.
Meaning: Whenever I walk with a cane to see the snow in the south, both Meihua and I are white-headed. The plum blossoms are white because of snow, and I are white because of sadness. The two complement each other.
"Qing Bai Lei Chao" is a compilation of anecdotes from the Qing Dynasty. It was compiled from an extensive collection of collected works, notes, journals, newspapers, and commentaries of people of the Qing Dynasty and modern times, imitating the style of "Song Bai Lei Chao" written by Pan Yongyin of the Qing Dynasty. The events recorded range from Shunzhi and Kangxi to Guangxu and Xuantong. The whole book is divided into ninety-two categories and contains more than 13,500 items.