Listen to this articlechénɡ 城
Fortress / City
四周由城墙环绕的城邑。“城”本指城墙、城郭，是筑土而成的、具有军事防御及防洪功能的设施，城外一般挖有护城河。古代王朝国都、诸侯封地、卿及大夫的封邑，都以筑有城墙的聚落为中心，所以称为“城”。“城”音“盛（chénɡ）”，意思是“容纳民众”。其根本功能为保护民众，是“民惟邦本”这一政治理念的具体体现。
Cheng (城) is a city with walls surrounding it. The Chinese character for cheng originally referred to inner and outer city walls built of earth, with military defense and flood control functions. Usually, it was surrounded by a moat. In ancient times, the state capital of a monarch, the fief of a prince, and a manor estate granted by a monarch to a minister or a senior official all had a walled settlement as the center, hence the name cheng. The Chinese character for cheng is pronounced the same way as another character meaning accommodating. Here, cheng means having the capacity to accommodate people. The primary function of a cheng is to protect its residents. This is a concrete manifestation of the political notion that people are the foundation of the state.
引例 Citations：
◎城者，可以自守也。（《墨子·七患》）
（城是可以用来守卫自己的[设施]。）
A fortress / city is a facility used to defend the people inside. (Mozi)
◎城，以盛民也。（许慎《说文解字·土部》）
（城是用来容纳百姓的。）
A fortress / city is for accommodating people. (Xu Shen: Explanation of Script and Elucidation of Characters)
◎城为保民为之也。（《榖梁传·隐公七年》）
（城是为了保护人民而修建的。）
A fortress / city is built to protect people. (Guliang’s Commentary on The Spring and Autumn Annals)
