Clear water for a hundred paces
World-famed as Tanzi Pool.
I asked the old man of Lingyang
This pool, because of whom?
Elders told me the tale
Of Tan Shupi from this prefecture.
In the last years of Kaiyuan
He had a son named A Yi.
Falling to earth, he could speak
At nine, had beard and brows.
He drank not, ate not
Never spoke of thirst or hunger.
At fifteen, walked with sharp speed
A fast horse could not catch him.
At twenty, entered mountain woods
Gone, with no return date.
Parents remembered him deeply
The village built a shrine.
In spring of Dali's first year
This child suddenly returned.
Head crowned with phoenix hairpin
Body clad in rosy-cloud robes.
Universally saving the weary world
Urgently told his kin and friends:
I am an immortal official
The lower realm cannot be prayed to.
Fear it's a demon's deceit
Better to level it early.
Here lies a hoard of gold
Guarding this temple's base.
Dig it up, distribute to the living
It can save the poor and weak.
Gold flows from the spirit spring
Clear as pure colored glaze.
Vast clarity shows auspicious sign
Flood and drought never exhaust it.
Finished speaking, bid farewell to emptiness
Vanished into misty mystery.
Mortal feelings cannot detain him
Climbing, gazing, the crowd wailed in grief.
Following the immortal's command
They tore the temple open to peer.
Indeed obtained endless treasure
Shared equally, aiding the distressed.
A huge source springs from the ridge top
Gushing forth, rare in the world.
A wondrous realm flows for a thousand years
Blessing the four directions year-round.