澄瀾砲台 The Chenglan emplacement

澄瀾砲台位於鳳山縣城西南隅，也就是立志街與復興街街口，是國家三級古蹟。澄瀾砲台的台座呈不規則的八角形，城牆體是卵石和石頭混合製成，城牆上面有塊匾額寫著：「澄瀾」。

The Chenglan Emplacement is located on the southwestern side to the Fengshan County, namely the intersection between Lizi Street and Fuxing Street. It is ranked as the 3rd class historical site formally. The basement of Chenglan Emplacement forms an irregular octagon. The bailey body is built with the combination of both gravels and stones. The header sign on the bailey is the title- Chenglan.

澄瀾炮台是在清朝道光17年間(西元1837年)，鳳山縣知縣曹謹為加強軍事防御功能而建築之城樓。曹謹上任後，在鳳山四隅共築有炮台六座及城門樓，而六座炮台中，現在只剩澄瀾、訓風、平成砲台三個原物仍殘存。

The Chenglan Emplacement was built in Qing Douguang 17 (1837). To intensify the military defense of castle building, the Fengshan magistrate Cao Jin built the castle tower. After Cao Jin reporting his duty, on 4 corners of Fengshan County, there were 6 emplacements constructed. Among the said 6 emplacements, there are only 3 emplacements remained only, namely the Chenglan, Suanfong and Pingcheng Emplacements.

澄瀾砲台外牆是由三合土疊砌而成，三合土就是二糯八糊、黑糖汁、蚵仔殼灰等三種，混合而成。澄瀾砲台的馬道非常傾斜，它的踏道入口已被摧毀，砲台平台上有架砲，並設有砲眼，可供砲口瞄準用。目前，鳳山新城所有的城牆，均已毀壞、倒塌，只餘下澄瀾炮台旁不到兩公尺的城牆可供憑吊。

The exterior bailey of Chenglan Emplacement was made of 3-in-1 mud and it was combined with 3 kinds of raw materials, namely the sticky rice, black sugar juice and oyster shells. The horse trials of Chenglan Emplacement are very slanted. Its entrance has been destroyed. The emplacement basement was built with cannons and cannon portholes available for aiming. At present, the all the bailey of New Fengshan Castle are totally destroyed and collapsed. There are only 2 meters of bailey nearby the Chenglan Emplacement for people's historical imagination.

北 門 The North Gate

左營北門又名「拱辰門」。「拱辰」二字取自《論語‧為政篇》：「為政以得，譬如北辰，居其所而眾星拱之」「拱」是拱衛，「辰」是北辰，就是北極星，是天上最尊貴的星辰，所以「拱辰」有四方歸心的意思。它位於蓮池潭旁，勝利路與義民巷和舊城巷口，目前城門保存尚好。而現今城牆雖然殘破，但仍然保存約一百多公尺的雉堞依舊可以看出以前城牆的雄偉壯觀。

The North Gate of Zuoying is also called Gongcheng Gate. The term-Gongcheng is excerpted from the Power Reigning Theme of the Analects of Confucius, a saying – power reigning is most valued with the northern star to direct the governance direction among people. Gong is the meaning of people's support and Cheng is exactly the northern star, the most valued star in the sky. Thus, Gongcheng mean the support of people everywhere. It is located by the Lianchi Lake right on the intersection among Shengli Road, Yiming Lane and Jiucheng Lane. Currently, the castle gate is kept well. Although the baileys are ruined, there is still a crenellation roughly 100 more meters in length available for viewers to image the past splendid appearance of the castle.

在城門外牆上有「拱辰門」的匾額，兩側更塑有彩色灰質浮雕的門神「神荼」、「鬱疊」。神荼、鬱壘為傳說中的神話人物，倆人專門制服危害人間的惡鬼，因此，鬼最怕神荼、鬱壘二人。民間都以倆人的畫像貼於門上，或直接畫於門上以守護家門。中國古代相傳北門外是鬼門、多惡煞，所以塑門神以避凶。而左營舊城的北門是台灣唯一擁有門神的城門，塑像高236公分，寬116公分，雖然色彩早就斑剝脫落了，但依然可以看出塑像的精細與華麗。

Outside the castle is a header titled Gongcheng with both sides embossed with grey Door Gods, Shengtu and Yulei. They are the legendary featured in fairy stories and dedicated to capture the devils detrimenting humans. As such, they are the gods most feared by devils. As folks, they are frequently painted or affixed to the gate door to serve as home guards. In China, a legend ran that the north gate was the ghost gate crowded with devils. Thus, the north gate was established with door gods to prevent from devil disturbance. In addition, the North Gate of Zuoying is exactly the only one castle gate painted with door gods locally. The North Gate of Zuoying Old Town is the only one gate designed with door gods measuring 236cm x 116cm. Despite color-off, the features with delicate and elegant styles can be seen still.

北門的形式、規格與東門相似。城門寬16.64公尺，深8.44公尺，城門以六角蜂巢式堆砌為主，以多面接觸，使整座城更加穩固。臺座兩側設有磚階梯通達城牆馬道。馬道表面鋪有磚石，為士兵行走、偵查與作戰的通道。登上馬道，可看到過去的城樓遺址，還有一整排用來窺視敵人的雉疊，從城牆上望過去，還可看到秀麗的蓮池潭風光喔！

The style and dimensions of the North Gate is the same as the East Gate. The castle gate is 16.64m in width and 8.44m in depth. The gate is designed with a cell structure with multiple surfaces to form a robust castle totally. Both stand sides are paved with brick stairs leading to the horse trails by baileys. The surface of horse trail is paved with bricks available for soldiers to walk, spy and fight. After mounting on the horse trials, people can see the past tower ruins. There is also a row of crenellation available to spy enemies. From the baileys, the beautiful view of Lianchi Lake can be enjoyed. 拱辰井 The Gongcheng Well

拱辰井位在勝利路和埤仔頭交叉處一帶，因正對著北門，所以稱做「拱辰井」。這裡的水，是以前埤仔頭街居民主要的飲用水，此井水源源不斷，先民們視它為神泉。

The Gongcheng Well is located on the intersection between the Sengli Road and the Beijaitou Street. It just faces toward the North Gate; thus, it is called the Gongcheng Well. The well water used to be the water source of local residents. The well water incessantly supplied to meet people's demand. Local people call it the miracle spring.

 關於拱辰井的由來，有一個傳說：康熙六十一年（西元1722年），清廷在左營築了土城後，因城外的居民好勇鬥狠，常常滋事。後來外縣太爺聽信一位風水師的「指點」，在城門不遠的地方，掘了一口井，希望井水的「柔」能調和居民的「剛」。果然井水不負所望，人民從此「柔順」多。

About the origin of the Gongcheng Well, a legend says that in 1722, after the Qing government built a mud castle on Zuoying. Because residents outside the castle liked fighting and provoke turmoil, thereafter, according to the instruction of a geomantic master, a well was dug nearby the castle gate. It was hoped the softness of well water could quench the hot temple of residents. Just as expected, people were more taming than usual.

兩百多年後，這口井不再湧出水，且因光復後交通設計不良，使「拱辰井」位在繁忙的十字路口，不但阻礙了交通，更常受到撞擊，為避免再受到摧殘，於是將它蓋上鐵蓋，至此消失於地面。

After 200 years, this well oozes water incessantly. Due to inferior road plans, the Gongcheng Well is located on the cross road with heavy traffic after Taiwan restoration. The well jam the traffic and it is also hit by vehicle frequently. To avoid further destruction, the well is sealed with an iron cap till it disappears on the road surface.

曹公開圳與龍母鬥法

The Canal Establishment Made by Cao Jin and His Fight with Female Dragon Spirit

曹謹在鳳山縣當知縣時，他開圳灌溉農田，讓人民收穫增加，好穩定地方治安。傳說當時有一座終年不涸的大塘，住著龍母與龍子，守護著赤山的龍脈地理，曹謹看上這大塘，想說可以作為旱季引水灌溉的水源，於是決定在此開挖；他選擇了地理龍脈的「喉嚨」部分動工。

When Cao Jin held the magistrate post on Fengshan County, he established the irrigation canals for farming fields and reinforced the public security. A saying runs that there was a big pond never dry all year round and there were a female dragon spirit and her son lived in the lake. They protected the geomantic circuits. Cao Jin tried to use the land as the water supply source for irrigation during the dry seasons. Thus, they decided to dig out the land. He opted for the geomantic location of dragon throat to start the engineering.

奇怪的是，第一天收工之後，第二天要再施工時，發現前一天挖好的山丘竟然恢復了原狀，大家都相當訝異。接連幾天都發生相同的情形。

Strangely, after their first work day was finished, they amazedly found the mountain restored to intact status. Everyone was very startled at the situation.

曹謹決定要查出事情的原因，於是他便派了一個乞丐守在工地，一有動靜立刻向他回報。到了半夜，乞丐忽然聽到哀嚎的聲音傳出，他沿著聲音來源追去，發現是一對龍母龍子在對話。龍子說：「如果曹謹的工程完工了，那我們不就沒地方住了嗎？」龍母回答：「不用怕，我有法術可以使他的工作無法完成，除非他在挖過的凹處埋下銅針及黑狗血來破我的法術，不然我們是不用擔心的！」

 Cao Jin decided to find out the fact and sent a beggar posted nearby the work site. Whenever there was any situation found, it was required to report to Cao. Till midnight, the beggar suddenly heard a yelling lament and he traced to the where the voice was from. He found a conversation between the female dragon spirit and her son. The son said:” If Cao's engineering was finished, there would be no place for us to dwell in!” The female dragon spirit replied: “Be afraid not! My wizard magic would make then unavailable to continue the engineering unless they buried the copper needles and dog blood in the dug caves to break my wizard magic. There would be no worry!”

乞丐聽到了他們的對話，一天亮即刻向曹謹報告。於是曹謹按照著龍母所說的埋下了銅針及黑狗血，果然發生了效用，挖過的凹處不再恢復，順利的完成開圳的工作。而龍母龍子因為法力被破，龍母受傷而逃，龍子則傷重不治，留下「龍喉穴遺址」。

The beggar heard their conversation and reported to Cao Jin when the day was on. Thus, Cao Jin followed the words from the female dragon and buried the copper needles and dog blood in the dug caves with the breaking effect. The dug areas could not be restored anymore and the canal engineering was finished smoothly. The wizard magic from the female dragon spirit was broken. She was injured and her son was dead of serious injury. As such, the remaining site of dragon throat was left.

聰明人啃掉半屏山 The Mt. Bangping Was Eaten by Smart Men 有一位仙人下凡來到左營興隆莊，帶著兩個仙餅，一心想找個「知足不貪」的人為徒弟。 仙人劈下半屏山半邊土石，再和上蓮池潭水，製成仙餅，然後掛上招牌寫著：「一個一文錢，二文任意拿」。結果全莊的人，幾乎都是付上兩文錢，把仙餅一袋一袋的裝。後來有一位年輕人，先以一文錢買了一枚大餅，吃完後又拿一文錢買第二枚。結果，只有年輕人吃了兩個真正的仙餅，其餘吃的都是由泥土和水的假仙餅。至於半屏山那半邊土石，就這樣被那些自以為聰明的人給啃光了。

There was a faerie descending to the earthy world, the Xinglong Village on Zuoying. He carried two fairy cakes and tried to find someone self-content but never greedy as his disciple. The faerie cut off the half the mud from Mt. Bangping and then the mud were combined with the water from the Lanchitang Lake to make the fairy cakes. The cakes was sold as a signboard saying cake for a penny but taking whatever number you want if 2 pennies paid. Consequently, all village people paid 2 pennies and take cakes by packs. Thereafter, there was a young man who firstly bought a cake and took another one after the first cake was eaten entirely. As a result, only his young man really ate 2 fairy cakes and the others just ate the fake fairy cakes.  The half part of Mt. Bangping was eaten by those so-called smart men.