''Dilong'' ( zh, first=t, s=地龙, t=地龍, p= dìlóng, w=ti-lung; lit. "earth dragon") is a

Chinese dragon The Chinese dragon or loong is a legendary creature in Chinese mythology, Chinese folklore, and Chinese culture generally. Chinese dragons have many animal-like forms, such as Bixi (mythology), turtles and Chiwen, fish, but are most commonly ...

name that is also used to mean "

earthworm An earthworm is a soil-dwelling terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. The term is the common name for the largest members of the class (or subclass, depending on the author) Oligochaeta. In classical systems, they we ...

" in

traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medicine, alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. A large share of its claims are pseudoscientific, with the majority of treatments having no robust evidence ...

and '' Geosaurus'' in

zoological nomenclature The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its formal author, t ...

Dragon

Chinese mythology Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature throughout the area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology encompasses a diverse array of myths derived from regional and cultural tradit ...

, is one of many types of dragons such as and . Since semantically contrasts with (e.g., , see

Tiandihui The Tiandihui, the Heaven and Earth Society, also called Hongmen (the Vast Family), is a Chinese fraternal organization and historically a secretive folk religious sect in the vein of the Ming loyalist White Lotus Sect, the Tiandihu ...

), the ''dilong'' is paired with the . Chinese dragons were supposedly able to fly, and thus were considered celestial creatures rather than terrestrial ones like the "earthbound" ''dilong''. Two other exceptions are and , which refers to the (cf. Japanese ''mogura'' "mole"). ''Dilong'' first occurs in the mid-7th century CE ''

History of the Southern Dynasties The ''History of the Southern Dynasties'' is one of the official Chinese historical works in the ''Twenty-Four Histories'' canon. It contain 80 volumes and covers the period from 420 to 589, the histories of the Liu Song, Southern Qi, Liang, ...

'' biography of

Liang dynasty The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () or Xiao Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was pre ...

Admiral

Wang Sengbian Wang Sengbian () (5th century – 27 October 555), courtesy name Juncai (君才), was a Chinese military general and regent of the Liang dynasty. He came to prominence as the leading general under Emperor Yuan (Xiao Yi)'s campaigns against the r ...

(d. 555 CE). It says witnesses saw that ascended into the sky, and this ''dilong'' "earth dragon" leaving Liang territory was interpreted as a portent of their defeat in 550 CE. Ronan and Needham cite another context in Wang's biography that says his boat had on the side, which they construe as a "literary emendation" for describing an early paddleboat.

Earthworm

''Dilong'' or is an elegant name for the "earthworm; worm", which is usually called . "''Long'' is employed in Chinese zoological nomenclature in much the same way that English ''dragon'' is used in ''dragonfly'' or ''dragonfish''". First, "''long'' names lifeforms thought to resemble dragons" (e.g., ; or ); second, "''long'' is closely associated with dinosaurs" (e.g.,

oracle bone Oracle bones are pieces of ox scapula and turtle plastron which were used in pyromancya form of divinationduring the Late Shang period () in ancient China. '' Scapulimancy'' is the specific term if ox scapulae were used for the divination, ''p ...

s were originally called ). ''Dilong'' first means "earthworm" in the written by the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

scholar Lang Ying (1487–1566 CE). The 1578 Bencao Gangmu pharmacological entry for lists alternate names of ''dilong'' and (see above).

Li Shizhen Li Shizhen (July 3, 1518 – 1593), courtesy name Dongbi, was a Chinese acupuncturist, herbalist, naturalist, pharmacologist, physician, and writer of the Ming dynasty. He is the author of a 27-year work, the '' Compendium of Materia ...

notes these names derive from the myth that earthworms (like dragons) can create . , or Di Long, is used in traditional Chinese medicine. It is prepared from the abdomen of the Red earthworm, ''

Lumbricus rubellus ''Lumbricus rubellus'' is a species of earthworm that is related to ''Lumbricus terrestris''. It is usually reddish brown or reddish violet, iridescent dorsally, and pale yellow ventrally. They are usually about to in length, with around 95– ...

'', and has many purported medicinal uses.

Other meanings

is the modern Chinese term for the

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

crocodilian '' Geosaurus'' (from Greek "earth lizard"). Contrast the feathered tyrannosaurid '' Dilong paradoxus'' that was named from Chinese . Chinese or Japanese is the name of a

chess piece A chess piece, or chessman, is a game piece that is placed on a chessboard to play the game of chess. It can be either White and Black in chess, white or black, and it can be one of six types: King (chess), king, Queen (chess), queen, Rook (ches ...

shogi , also known as Japanese chess, is a Strategy game, strategy board game for two players. It is one of the most popular board games in Japan and is in the same family of games as chess, Western chess, chaturanga, xiangqi, Indian chess, and janggi. ...

. In Taikyoku shogi, this piece has written on one side and or "rain dragon" on the obverse. One variety of Ditangquan martial arts is called . In the

sexagenary cycle The sexagenary cycle, also known as the gānzhī (干支) or stems-and-branches, is a cycle of sixty terms, each corresponding to one year, thus amounting to a total of sixty years every cycle, historically used for recording time in China and t ...

and

Chinese astrology Chinese astrology is based on traditional Chinese astronomy and the Chinese calendar. Chinese astrology flourished during the Han dynasty (2nd century BC to 2nd century AD). Chinese astrology has a close relation with Chinese philosophy (theor ...

, is a recurring combination of Dragon with the Five Elements/Phases, see

Chinese calendar correspondence table This Chinese calendar correspondence table shows the stem/branch year names, correspondences to the Western ( Gregorian) calendar, and other related information for the current, 79th sexagenary cycle of the Chinese calendar based on the 2697 BC ...

and

Tibetan calendar The Tibetan calendar (), or the Phukpa calendar, known as the ''Tibetan lunar calendar'', is a lunisolar calendar composed of either 12 or 13 lunar months, each beginning and ending with a new moon. A thirteenth month is added every two or three y ...

References

Sources * *{{cite book , last=Needham , first=Joseph , last2=Ronan , first2=Colin A , title=The Shorter Science and Civilisation in China , publication-place=Cambridge & New York, publisher=Cambridge University Press , year=1995 , volume=5 , isbn=9780521462143 , oclc=769914004 Chinese dragons