Dilang and Xiquan are canines that, according to Chinese legend, live underground. The 4th-century BC text Shizi states: "If there be a dog under the earth, it is called ti-lang [dilang]."[1] They are also called Jia .[1]
According to Gan Bao's 4th-century story collection In Search of the Supernatural, during the yuankang period (291–299) of Emperor Hui of Jin's reign, a man named Huai Yao (Chinese: 懷瑤) in Lou County (Chinese: 婁縣), Wu Commandery discovered two underground Xiquan puppies, "one male and a female, whose eyes had not yet opened", both of which were larger than normal dogs. He had begun to dig into the earth after hearing "distant sounds of dogs" and discovering a burrow hole "the size of a serpent's retreat". After Huai returned the puppies to their den and covered it with an old grindstone, he failed to find it the next day.[1]
Gan Bao's book also mentioned another discovery, that of the Grand Protector of Wu Commandery, Zhang Mao (Chinese: 張茂), which supposedly took place during the taixing period (318–321) of Emperor Yuan of Jin's reign. Zhang had heard sounds of dogs beneath his bed but could not find the source; finally the earth cracked open and revealed two puppies. He tried to rear them, but they both died;[1] later, in the year 322, he was killed during Wang Dun's rebellion.[2]
A similar story is found in the official historical text Book of Jin (648) about Sun Wuzhong (Chinese: 孫無終), a general under Emperor Xiaowu of Jin, who found two white puppies, also one gender each, under his residence in Jiyang County (Chinese: 既陽縣). Sun also tried but failed to rear them;[3] he was soon killed in 402 by the rebel Huan Xuan.[4]
According to the same chapter in Book of Jin, in the year 434, a man named He Xu (Chinese: 何旭) in Qian County (Chinese: 灊縣) also found two puppies underground; their thin and "blue" mother escaped. He Xu also tried to rear them; the female died but the male survived and grew to be "good at devouring beasts". Later, He Xu's village was destroyed by "barbarians".[3]
The Ming dynasty government official Xie Zhaozhe (Chinese: 謝肇淛; 1567–1624) mentioned a "recent" story from Changzhou (Chinese: 長洲): for several nights puppy sounds were heard from underground; but nothing was discovered after much digging.[5]
The Written Record
. 4th century. Kenneth DeWoskin and J. I. Crump Jr.. 1996. Stanford University Press. 145.