地 is a Chinese character

Chinese character

Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...

 (Pinyin

Pinyin

Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...

: dì; Japanese character: chi or tsuchi

Tsuchi

Tsuchi may refer to*Zhuxi Earth Castle group*地, Japanese character ‎for Earth...

) which symbolises earth; field; area. It is a combination of symbols 土, -tǔ (earth); and 也 -yě (also). It is one of Joël Bellassen

Joël Bellassen

Joël Bellassen or Bel Lassen is a professor of Chinese at Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales and the first Inspector General in the field of Chinese Language Teaching at the Ministry of Education...

's 400 characters. At the behest of Zong Qinke

Zong Qinke

Zong Qinke was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving briefly as chancellor during Wu Zetian's reign....

, 地 was replaced by 埊, one of the Chinese characters of Empress Wu

Chinese characters of Empress Wu

Chinese characters of Empress Wu, or the Zetian characters , are Chinese characters introduced by Empress Wu Zetian, the only reigning female in the history of China, to demonstrate her power. The characters were not created by the Empress herself, but were suggested by an official named Zong...

. The intention was to showcase Empress Dowager Wu Zetian's greatness, but, following her death in 705, 地 became re-established.
In the Chinese philosophical systems of Taoism

Taoism

Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...

 and Confucianism

Confucianism

Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...

, Dì is mentioned in relationship to its complementary aspect of Tian

Tian

Tian is one of the oldest Chinese terms for the cosmos and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy, and religion. During the Shang Dynasty the Chinese called god Shangdi or Di , and during the Zhou Dynasty Tian "heaven; god" became synonymous with Shangdi...

 (天), which is most often translated as "Heaven

Heaven

Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...

". These two aspects of cosmology

Cosmology

Cosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...

 are representative of the dualistic nature of Taoism. They are thought to maintain the two poles of the Three Realms of reality, with the middle realm occupied by Human

Human

Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...

ity (人 Ren).

In Chinese dominoes

Chinese dominoes

Chinese dominoes are used in several tile-based games, namely, Tien Gow, Pai Gow, Che Deng, Tiu U and Kap Tai Shap. In Cantonese they are called 骨牌 "Gwat Pai", which literally means "bone tiles", it is also the name of a northern Chinese game, where the rules are quite different from the southern...

 地 is 1-1 (earth).

地 is one of the 64 hexagrams

Hexagram (I Ching)

The I Ching book consists of 64 hexagrams.A hexagram is a figure composed of six stacked horizontal lines , where each line is either Yang , or Yin . The hexagram lines are traditionally counted from the bottom up, so the lowest line is considered line 1 while the top line is line 6...

 of the I Ching

I Ching

The I Ching or "Yì Jīng" , also known as the Classic of Changes, Book of Changes and Zhouyi, is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts...

, or Book of Changes.

Examples

青天, 白日, 满地红	Blue Sky, White Sun, and a Wholly Red Earth: the Flag of the Republic of China
地龙	Dilong Dilong Dilong Ward is one of the sixteen wards of Mokokchung town. It is located in the lower slope of the town and forms the Northern part of Mokokchung....  (lit. "earth dragon"); also used to mean "earthworm Earthworm Earthworm is the common name for the largest members of Oligochaeta in the phylum Annelida. In classical systems they were placed in the order Opisthopora, on the basis of the male pores opening posterior to the female pores, even though the internal male segments are anterior to the female... " and "Geosaurus Geosaurus Geosaurus is an extinct genus of marine crocodyliform within the family Metriorhynchidae that lived during the Late Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous. Geosaurus was a carnivore that spent much, if not all, its life out at sea... "
菊地 凛子	(lit. Kikuchi Rinko); Babel actress Rinko Kikuchi Rinko Kikuchi , born , January 6, 1981, is a Japanese actress. Kikuchi is the first Japanese actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years. She is currently Japan's only living female Academy Award nominee in acting categories...
中华民国自由地区	Free Area of the Republic of China Free Area of the Republic of China The Free area of the Republic of China is a legal and political description referring to the territories under the control of the government of Republic of China , consisting of the island groups of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and some minor islands...
圓覺寺地十層石塔	lit. "ten storied stone pagoda of Wongaksa Temple site Wongaksa Pagoda Wongaksa Pagoda is a twelve metre high ten-storey marble pagoda in South Korea, once on the grounds of the Gyeongbokgung palace but now held at Seoul's Tapgol Park in a protective glass case... "; Wongaksa Pagoda
洞天福地	72 blessed lands
地级市	Prefecture-level city Prefecture-level city A prefectural level city , prefectural city or prefectural level municipality is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China, ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. Prefectural level cities form the second level of the administrative...  ( dìjí shì; literally "region-level city")
☷ 地	"Earth", is one of the "eight symbols" in Taoist cosmology.
地黄	Rehmannia Rehmannia Rehmannia is a genus of six species of flowering plants in the order Lamiales, endemic to China.The genus was included in the family Scrophulariaceae or Gesneriaceae in some older classifications. The current placement of the genus is in neither Scrophulariaceae s.s. nor Plantaginaceae s.l.... ( dìhuáng) or gān dìhuáng (干地黄)