Dilong

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title: "Dilong" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["chinese-dragons"] description: "Chinese dragon name" topic_path: "geography/china" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilong" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Chinese dragon name ::

::callout[type=note] the Chinese dragon ::

Dilong (; lit. "earth dragon") is a Chinese dragon name that is also used to mean "earthworm" in traditional Chinese medicine and Geosaurus in zoological nomenclature.

Dragon

In Chinese mythology, is one of many types of dragons such as and . Since semantically contrasts with (e.g., , see Tiandihui), 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 biography of Liang dynasty Admiral Wang Sengbian 王僧辯 (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 龍 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 龍 is closely associated with dinosaurs" (e.g., oracle bones were originally called ).

Dilong first means "earthworm" in the written by the Ming dynasty scholar Lang Ying 郎瑛 (1487–1566 CE). The 1578 Bencao Gangmu pharmacological entry for lists alternate names of dilong and (see above). Li Shizhen 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, and has many purported medicinal uses.

Other meanings

is the modern Chinese term for the Mesozoic crocodilian Geosaurus (from Greek "earth lizard"). Contrast the feathered tyrannosaurid Dilong paradoxus that was named from Chinese .

Chinese zh or Japanese ja 地龍 is the name of a chess piece in shogi. In Taikyoku shogi, this piece has written on one side and zh or ja 雨龍 "rain dragon" on the obverse.

One variety of Ditangquan martial arts is called .

In the sexagenary cycle and Chinese astrology, is a recurring combination of Dragon with the Five Elements/Phases, see Chinese calendar correspondence table and Tibetan calendar.

References

Sources

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