Many will be familiar with the impressive data set accompanying Nanjing’s Zhonghua Men. The biggest citadel on Earth still in existence, capable of housing a garrison of 3,000 soldiers and likely the most complex structure of its time.

许多人都会熟悉南京中华门的令人印象深刻的数据集。 地球上仍然存在的最大的城堡，能够容纳3000名士兵的驻军，可能是当时最复杂的结构。

But that would belie its most ominous (and rather obvious when thought about) fact, one which is encapsulated in the ancient Chinese idiom, “Catching turtles in a jar” (瓮中捉鳖; weng zhong zhuo bie), originating in the Yuan Dynasty. It’s a simple metaphor; that you seek to capture is already within your grasp.

但这将掩盖其最不祥（当思考时相当明显）的事实，这个事实被概括在中国古代成语“在罐子里抓海龟”（瓮中捉鳖；weng zhong zhuo bie）中，起源于元朝。 这是一个简单的隐喻；你寻求捕捉的东西已经触手可及了。

For Zhonghua Men’s architects were so conniving that the actual barbican of the citadel is located inside the perimeter that is the Nanjing City Wall. Meanwhile, each of the citadel’s archways has a double-leaf iron gate that can be opened and closed from above. 

对于中华门来说，建筑师们是如此勾结，以至于城堡的实际巴比肯位于南京城墙的外围。 与此同时，城堡的每个拱门都有一个双叶铁门，可以从上面打开和关闭。

When under serious attack, it was therefore more or less child’s play to open the gate for the invaders to penetrate and promptly shut it behind them. At that point they would be trapped and surrounded, with that enormous garrison soldiers above, ready and willing to unleash annihilation.

因此，当受到严重攻击时，打开大门让入侵者进入，并在他们身后迅速关闭大门，这或多或少是儿戏。 那时，他们将被困住并被包围，上面是庞大的驻军士兵，准备并愿意释放毁灭。

Significantly more serene today, other than during its dramatic evening audio-visual shows detailing the glory of past battles, Zhonghua Men was formerly known as Jubao Men. It was named thus after being first built in the Yuan Dynasty between 1366 and 1367, after which the early days of the Ming Dynasty saw the Gate expanded between 1369 and 1375.

今天，除了在戏剧性的晚间视听节目中详细介绍了过去战斗的荣耀外，《中华人》以前被称为《聚宝人》。 它于1366年至1367年间在元朝首次建造后因此得名，之后在明朝早期，该门在1369年至1375年间进行了扩展。

Then nothing much happened until 1931, when the Republican-era government changed its name to Zhonghua Men and decided to put two more gates in the City Wall on either side of the original Jubao Men, today’s East and West gates of Zhonghua Men, which could simultaneously meet the new need for vehicles in a north-south direction.

然后，直到1931年，共和党时代的政府更名为中华门，并决定在城墙上在原来的聚宝门的两侧再放两扇门，即今天的中华门东门和西门，这可以同时满足南北方向车辆的新需求。

Zhonghua Men measures 118.5 metres from east to west and 128 metres from north to south, occupying a total area of some 15,168 square metres. Or put another way, it’s the size of Alexanderplatz in Berlin.

中华门从东到西长118.5米，从北到南长128米，总面积约15,168平方米。 或者说，它和柏林的亚历山大广场差不多大。

Inside, the main gate comprises 27 caverns over three floors to accommodate those garrisons of soldiers, together with all their supplies. Then there are the access ramps on the east and west wings; 11.5 metres wide and 86.1 metres long, for horses to pull the might of the military up onto the City Wall.

在内部，正门由27个洞穴组成，分布在三层，以容纳那些士兵的驻军，以及他们所有的物资。 然后是东翼和西翼的通道坡道；宽11.5米，长86.1米，供马匹将军队的力量拉上城墙。

And smack bang in the centre of the Gate, its plaque, with the characters, “Zhonghua Men” (中华门), inscribed in the hand of Chiang Kai-shek. 

砰的一声，在大门中央，它的牌匾上刻着蒋介石手中的“中华门”字样。