灯笼(lantern)又称为灯彩，起源于1800多年前的西汉时期。在古代，灯笼的主要作用是照明。现在，灯笼综合了绘画艺术、剪纸(paper cutting )、纸扎、刺缝(seam)等工艺，已经变成了一种供收藏与欣赏的传统工艺品。每逢佳节庆典到处都可以看到灯笼，特别是元宵节和中秋节，人们都挂起象征团圆意义的红灯笼，来营造一种喜庆的氛围。后来在中国灯笼就成了喜庆的象征。

　　参考翻译:

　　The Lantern

　　Lanterns, also known as colored lights, originatedfrom the Western Han Dynasty of more than 1,800years ago. They were mainly used for lighting inancient times, while nowadays they have alreadybecome a kind of traditional art and craft for collection and appreciation, combining variouskinds of crafts, such as painting, paper cutting, paper crafts and seam. On festivals andcelebrations, lanterns can be seen almost everywhere;especially on the Lantern Festivals andthe Mid-Autumn Festivals, red lanterns are hung to express the meaning of reunion and createa joyous atmosphere. Later on, lanterns have become the symbol of happiness in China.

　　1.起源于:可译为originate from。也可以翻译为derivefrom，但这个词组常用被动形式。

　　2.西汉时期:应译为Western Han Dynasty,除了西汉，还有如北宋、南宋、东晋等这样的朝代名，翻译时“东西南北”这四个字分别要译为Eastern, Western, Southern,Northern。此外，还有后汉、后周这样的朝代名，其中的“后”应翻译为Later。

　　3.传统工艺品:应译为traditional art and craft。

　　4.元宵节和中秋节:“元宵节”翻译成the Lantern Festival, “中秋节”翻译 成the Mid-Autumn Festival。由于这里不是指特定的某一个元宵节或中秋节，所以Festival要采用复数形式，表示“每逢…”的意思。

　　5.…的象征:可译为the symbol of...symbol有“象征;符号”的意思。