四合院门的等级
Ranks of gates of Siheyuan
高等官员大门
Mansion gates of high-officials
广亮大门为高级官员人家使用，在等级上仅次于王府大门。广亮大门一般位于宅院的东南角，门扉设在中柱之间，在檐柱之间、檐枋之下装有雀替、三幅云等饰件，台基较高。门口比较宽大敞亮，占据一间房的位置，可供四个警卫分站两旁把守，以示宅门的等级高贵。皇朝时期，广亮大门只许高官使用。
The grand light gate, used by high-official households, was only second in rank to the gates of princely households. These gates, with relatively high foundations, were generally situated in the southeast corner of a courtyard, built with doors between columns and decorations such as Queti and Sanfuyun set between peripheral columns and eave beams. It had a fairly spacious and light entrance as large as a room, and was big enough for two guards to flank each side, a token of the rank and nobility of the residence. During the imperial dynasties, use of grand light gates was limited to high-ranking officials.
其特点是：房山有中柱，在中柱上有木制抱框，框内安朱漆大门；门前有半间房的空间，房梁全部暴露在外，因而称“广亮大门”。
Features: The Fangshan had columns set with wooden lock boxes into which a red lacquer gate was fitted; in front of the gate was a space as large as half a room, where all the house beams were exposed, and hence the name “grand light gate”.
中等官员大门
Mansion gates of middle-ranking officials
是皇朝时中低官员的宅门，是将门框安在金柱上的大门。金柱大门所说的“金柱”，就是檐柱以内的柱子样式，该大门檐柱上的装饰，整体上显得比广亮大门轻巧。金柱大门只有半开间，门洞约一步进深，规模上比广亮大门小，门洞也比广亮大门窄，但大门的构造、屋顶、雕饰等与广亮大门相同，可供两个警卫站立把守。
如今，在东城和西城的胡同里，间或还能看到广亮大门和金柱大门的院落。
The golden column gate, the residential gate for a middle or low-ranking official, was a gate with its doorframe fixed into a golden gate. The so called “golden column”refers to the style of the columns within the peripheral columns decorated more delicately on the whole than those of the grand light gate. The gate, only half a room wide and about a step deep, was smaller and narrower than the grand light gate but the same as the latter in structure, roof and carving, spacious enough for one guard on either side.
Nowadays, you may still occasionally see a courtyard with a grand light gate or a golden column gate tucked away in the lanes of Dongcheng District and Xicheng District.
商户人家大门
蛮子门等级低于广亮大门、金柱大门，门扇槛框采取广亮大门的形式，为富户人家专用。所谓“蛮子”源于老北京歧视南方人，称其为“南蛮子”。其特点是：门扉位于檐柱之间，门框上有四颗门簮，没有雀替，更没有门前可供警卫把守的廊子。
The house gate of business people
Manzi gate, lower in rank than the grand light gate and the golden column gate, used the form of the grand light gate for its door and sill frame, which could only be used by rich households. So called "manzi" was a discriminatory name given by Beijing people to the Southerners, and they were called "nanmanzi (barbarians in the South)". It was featured with leafs located between peripheral columns, a door frame set with Menzan, no Queti, and no corridor in front of it as a post for any security guard.
中产人家大门
如意门等级上低于广亮大门、金柱大门和蛮子门。如意门在前檐柱间砌墙。在墙里留有门洞。如意门有大小之分，大如意门空间与广亮大门相仿，有门洞。小如意门没有门洞，进门就是内院。如意门不受等级限制，可随意装饰。有的砖雕非常漂亮。
Middle-class household gate
Ruyi gate, ranking lower than the three gates mentioned above, had walls built between the front peripheral columns with openings inside the walls. The gate came in different sizes. The big ones were as spacious as the grand light gate and built with openings. The small ones had no opening, and the inner courtyards were just only a step away inside. With no hierarchical restrictions, this kind of gate could be decorated in any way, and some bore beautiful brick carvings.
普通百姓人家大门
民宅中更多的是墙垣式院门。墙垣式门最普遍、最常见的是小门楼形式，其样式虽然五花八门，但基本造型大同小异，主要由腿子、门楣、屋面、脊饰等部分组成，一般都比较简单朴素，也有为数不多的豪华小门楼，门楣上常爱施以砖雕，虽不气派却十分耐看，显示出房主人的审美趋向。
Gates of the ordinary households
The gate of an ordinary household came as part of the wall of the courtyard. The commonest of this kind of gate was in the form of a small gatehouse,which might came in different styles but had the same basic shape and was mainly composed of legs, lintels, roof, ridge crest, and etc. Most of them simple, some luxury, with brick carvings on the lintels, they, though not imposing, revealed their beauty under your scrutiny, a sure sign of the taste of the householders.
