The first four lines of the rhyme describe how one night, a scholar rode a white horse past the lotus pond. The next four lines bring out the mood of the nursery rhyme. Chives and flowers, how to tie the knot? It is said that in some Hakka areas, when a daughter gets married, there is a custom of placing leeks in the gift, which represents the meaning of long lasting.
This is a very widely circulated nursery rhyme in the Hakka region. In the early agricultural society, in some areas where irrigation was not easy, the residents would create ponds to store water, plant some lotus flowers or raise some fish in the ponds, and also grow vegetables in the open space beside the ponds. Because the ponds are made of hard soil or red clay, they are more suitable for growing leeks, which are drought-resistant, so most people grow leeks. When leeks blossom, if they are not harvested, they will easily deteriorate and become unpalatable. Therefore, when leeks blossom, everyone will harvest them as soon as possible, and when they are harvested in large quantities, they will not be able to finish eating them at home, so they will give them to their neighbors or friends, and they will become acquainted with each other, and they will even become in-laws as a result.
Carp is usually raised in the pond, and when relatives and friends visit or have a banquet, the host often fishes up the fish in the pond to cook, which is both economical and convenient. Because of the hospitality, so the biggest fish to treat the guests, those smaller fish, had to be sold to make a sum of money to get married.