Dilong
Dilong 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 , 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 .Dilong first occurs in the mid-7th century CE History of the Southern Dynasties biography of Liang dynasty Admiral Wang Sengbian 王僧辯. 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" ; second, "long 龍 is closely associated with dinosaurs".Dilong first means "earthworm" in the written by the Ming dynasty scholar Lang Ying 郎瑛. The 1578 Bencao Gangmu pharmacological entry for lists alternate names of dilong and . Li Shizhen notes these names derive from the myth that earthworms 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. Contrast the feathered tyrannosaurid Dilong paradoxus that was named from Chinese.Chinese or Japanese 地龍 is the name of a chess piece in shogi. In Taikyoku shogi, this piece has written on one side and or 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.