Yuan Dynasty
一半儿 · 题情（二）
王和卿
书来和泪怕开缄，
又不归来空再三。
这样病儿谁惯耽？
越恁瘦岩岩，
一半儿增添一半儿减。
Translation
A letter has come, but with tears in her eyes she fears to break the seal; again he says he will return, and again it may come to nothing. Who could endure such a sickness? She grows thinner and more wasted like this: one half increases, one half diminishes.
Analysis
This second "One Half · On Love" song captures a woman's hesitation before opening a letter from her absent lover. A letter should bring joy, but here it brings fear, because it may contain yet another promise that will not be fulfilled. The first line is psychologically exact. She cries before opening the letter. The fear is not of the paper itself, but of renewed hope. To open the letter is to risk being disappointed again. "Again he does not return, empty for the third time" suggests a repeated pattern. The lover has promised return more than once, but those promises have failed. Waiting has become a cycle of expectation and collapse. The song then describes love-longing as an illness. This is not decorative sadness; it is prolonged emotional strain that damages the body. "She grows thinner and more wasted" gives visible form to inner suffering. In Yuan sanqu, emotion often appears through concrete bodily changes: messy hair, tear-stained sleeves, loosened clothes, thinness, sleeplessness. The final line uses the formal logic of the tune "One Half": one half increases, one half decreases. What increases is sorrow, longing, and anxiety; what decreases is flesh, strength, and beauty. The contrast is simple but sharp. The song's strength lies in its small domestic moment. A letter arrives. She wants to know, but fears knowing. That hesitation contains the whole pain of repeated longing.
About the Author
Wang Heqing was an early Yuan dynasty sanqu writer from Daming. His dates are uncertain. A contemporary of figures such as Guan Hanqing, he was known for a witty, free, and playful temperament. His surviving songs often depict urban life, romantic situations, satire, and worldly humor. His language is lively, colloquial, and sharply observant. In the "One Half · On Love" sequence, he excels at capturing the coyness, longing, complaint, and emotional instability of women in love through small everyday details.