After he reached thirty, he studied intensively the landscape and flower paintings of the "Four Monks" of the late Ming period. In his forties, Chang set out to Tun Huang in the remote northwest to begin the arduous task of copying paintings in the area's caves.
大千先生四十歲時赴敦煌石窟，以二年七個月的時間，臨摹二百七十六件壁畫，是他藝術生涯中最重要的階段，也對他未來的畫風影響至鉅。