To face one another and weep while in dire straits; refers to people feeling helpless and lamenting their shared misfortune instead of taking action.

(literary) to weep together in the face of disaster; to face one another in a desperate situation without any ideas or solutions; based on a story from the Jin dynasty of refugees from the north gathering at a pavilion and weeping for their lost homeland until they were scolded for not taking action

to be held as a prisoner of war or a political prisoner; used to describe a captive from the south or someone who remains loyal to their home country while in captivity