Transcription of Three of Cao Tang’s “Smaller Wandering Immortal Poems” - Da Chongguang

A fine art print of a seventeenth-century Chinese calligraphy scroll by Da Chongguang, featuring fluid ink characters on paper.

This hanging scroll features the calligraphy of Da Chongguang, a scholar-official active during the early Qing Dynasty. The work presents a transcription of three poems from the series Smaller Wandering Immortal Poems, originally composed by the Tang Dynasty poet Cao Tang. Da Chongguang was recognised for his mastery of the clerical and regular scripts, and this piece demonstrates his fluid, controlled brushwork.

The characters are arranged in vertical columns, maintaining a balance between the density of the ink and the negative space of the paper. The brush strokes exhibit a rhythmic quality, shifting between thicker, weighted lines and thinner, more rapid movements. This variation provides a sense of motion across the surface of the scroll. The composition reflects the traditional practice of literati calligraphy, where the act of writing is as much a performance of personal expression as it is a preservation of classical literature.

Da Chongguang’s approach to the text is disciplined, yet it avoids rigid uniformity. Each character is formed with attention to its structural integrity, while the overall flow remains consistent with the aesthetic standards of the seventeenth-century Chinese literati. The presence of red seals on the left side indicates the provenance and the artist’s personal mark, which are standard elements in traditional Chinese scroll painting and calligraphy. This print captures the subtle tonal variations of the original ink, preserving the texture of the paper and the depth of the brushwork. It is a representation of a specific historical tradition, offering insight into the technical and intellectual pursuits of the Qing period scholar.