南京：一座懂得铭记的城市

Welcome to Nanjing, a city where memory lives in bricks, river water, tree shade, and quiet public spaces.

欢迎来到南京。在这座城市，记忆存在于城砖、河水、树荫和安静的公共空间里。

It has served as a capital in different periods, so one age rarely stands alone here.

南京曾在不同历史时期成为都城，因此这里很少只有单独一个时代。

The clearest layer is the Ming city wall, built over twenty-eight years and still stretching through much of the city.

最清晰的一层是明城墙，它历时二十八年修建，至今仍绵延在城市之中。

Its great size is impressive, but the small marks on its bricks tell the more human story.

它巨大的规模令人震撼，但城砖上的细小文字讲述了更有人情味的故事。

Many bricks carry the names of officials, craftsmen, and workers who were responsible for making them.

许多城砖刻着官员、工匠和劳动者的姓名，他们要对制砖负责。

Six centuries later, those names turn a national project into a record of real hands and real duty.

六个世纪之后，这些姓名把一项国家工程变成了真实双手与真实责任的记录。

History becomes easier to understand when we can see the people who helped build it.

当我们能够看见那些参与建设的人，历史也就更容易理解。

The Qinhuai River carries another kind of memory, softer in shape but just as deep.

秦淮河承载着另一种记忆，它的形态更加柔和，却同样深厚。

For generations, its banks brought together markets, schools, homes, boats, and places where stories were written and shared.

许多代人以来，秦淮河岸汇集了市场、学校、民居、船只，以及书写和分享故事的地方。

Writers found beauty and change beside the water, while ordinary families built their lives in the nearby lanes.

作家在水边发现美与变化，普通家庭则在附近街巷中经营自己的生活。

Today, evening lights still meet old bridges and crowded streets, allowing literature and daily life to remain close.

今天，晚灯仍与古桥和热闹街道相遇，让文学与日常生活继续彼此靠近。

Nanjing's memory is not only ancient; it also grows above the streets in long rows of plane trees.

南京的记忆不只属于古代，它也生长在街道上方成排的悬铃木中。

The famous avenue on Lingyuan Road began with the route prepared for Sun Yat-sen's burial ceremony in 1929.

著名的陵园路梧桐大道，起源于1929年为孙中山先生奉安大典修建的道路。

Later planting carried the same green shade into more streets, where it became part of summer walks and local feeling.

后来的补植把同样的绿荫带进更多街道，使它成为夏日步行和城市情感的一部分。

Yet a city that values memory must also face the parts of history that are painful.

然而，一座珍视记忆的城市，也必须面对历史中令人痛苦的部分。

The Memorial Hall preserves evidence and personal stories from the Nanjing Massacre that began in December 1937.

侵华日军南京大屠杀遇难同胞纪念馆保存着1937年12月开始的南京大屠杀相关证据与个人故事。

Its message is direct: remember history, respect the victims, and cherish peace.

它传达的信息十分直接：铭记历史，尊重遇难者，珍爱和平。

Remembering does not ask the next generation to live inside hatred; it asks them to protect truth and human dignity.

铭记并不是让下一代生活在仇恨中，而是要求他们守护真相与人的尊严。

In 2026, walls, museums, riverbanks, and tree-lined roads still bring these different memories into public life.

到了2026年，城墙、博物馆、河岸与林荫道路仍把这些不同的记忆带入公共生活。

Nanjing shows that remembering the past does not prevent a city from living fully in the present.

南京表明，记住过去并不会妨碍一座城市充分地生活在当下。

A city faces the future with calm courage when it protects both the beauty that comforts it and the truth that tests it.

当一座城市既守护给予它安慰的美，也守护考验它的真相，它便能以沉静的勇气面对未来。