Dilong

Template:Short description Template:Italic title Template:Use shortened footnotes Dilong (Template:Lang-zh; 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, Template:Zhp is one of many types of Template:Zhp dragons such as Template:Zhp and Template:Zhp. Since Template:Zhp semantically contrasts with Template:Zhp (e.g., Template:Zhi, see Tiandihui), the dilong is paired with the Template:Zhp. 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 Template:Zhp and Template:Zhp, which refers to the Template:Zhp (cf. Japanese mogura Template:Linktext "mole").

Dilong first occurs in the mid-7th century CE History of the Southern Dynasties biography of Liang dynasty Admiral Wang Sengbian (d. 555 CE). It says witnesses saw Template:Zhp 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 Template:Zhp on the side, which they construe as a "literary emendation" for Template:Zhp describing an early paddleboat.Template:Sfn

Earthworm

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

Dilong first means "earthworm" in the Template:Zhp written by the Ming dynasty scholar Lang Ying (1487–1566 CE). The 1578 Bencao Gangmu pharmacological entry for Template:Zhp lists alternate names of dilong and Template:Zhp (see above). Li Shizhen notes these names derive from the myth that earthworms (like dragons) can create Template:Zhp.

Template:Zhp, 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

Template:Zhp 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 Template:Zhp.

Chinese or Japanese is the name of a chess piece in shogi. In Taikyoku shogi, this piece has Template:Zhi written on one side and or "rain dragon" on the obverse.

One variety of Ditangquan martial arts is called Template:Zhp.

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

References

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