Cheng Man-ch'ing: Probing Tang Poetry; 1958

Probing Tang Poetry was privately published in 1958 by Cheng Man-ch'ing while residing in Taiwan. The work contains the poems commonly collected under the title Three Hundred Tang Poems, all written in Cheng's calligraphy, together with Cheng's commentary and analysis above each poem. Influential friends and artists provided Introductions to the book. The work is artfully bound in the Chinese traditional string-bound method.
Chiang Shih-chieh 蔣士杰 wrote the front cover and first Introduction.
Cheng's close friend, Chiang Hsiang 張相 wrote the next Introduction.
The famous Buddhist and noted calligrapher Chu Mei-ying 朱玖瑩 (1896-1996) wrote the third Introduction.
Cheng himself wrote the fourth Introduction in his unique even-pressured stroke.

Cheng's Introduction in his Even-pressured Stroke

Cheng's Standard Script Text and Running-standard Script Notes

Of particular note and interest is the variety of calligraphic styles Cheng employs in this work. Each poem is penned in standard script, each commentary is written in standard-running script; and Cheng's Introduction is written in his own unique script which he developed in the fifties, and which may be called his even-pressured stroke.

This very rare copy took several years to acquire; only two copies remain in my collection. Both copies are in perfect condition.
Each copy is available for $125.00.