Middle School Chinese language students at Sidwell Friends learned about the restoration of the famed sculptures and conducted their own mini restorations.

Questions come easily to young students, especially when confronted with something as astonishing as China’s 2,200-year-old terracotta warriors.

Where did they get all the terracotta from, and how did they make the color purple back then?
Why did Qin Shi Huang order the creation of so many warriors, and not just like a hundred, but 7,000?
I wonder if more pits will be discovered and what technologies will be used.
Does each warrior represent someone who died?
How long did it normally take to build one Terracotta Warrior?

These were just some of the questions 5th and 6th grade Chinese students posed to two experts who visited Sidwell Friends this month to discuss the history of the sculptures and the painstaking restoration work that took place following their discovery 50 years ago.

Professor Yingyong Dong, a museum educator from the Emperor Qin Shihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum near Xi’an, China, and Elizabeth Eder (P’17), research associate at the National Museum of American History and former program director of PreK-12 strategic education initiatives at the Smithsonian Institution, led students through a discussion of the purpose of the sculptures, which depict the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. 

They explained that the army is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE with the purpose of protecting him in his afterlife. Each warrior is unique. Students also learned about the Mausoleum Site Museum’s “Terracotta Warriors Museum Hospital,” a specialized conservation facility where fragile, painted warriors are carefully restored using high-tech tools, including X-ray detection, ultrasonic scanning, and 3D imaging. Experts use delicate tools such as bamboo slips, scalpels, and brushes to clean and repair the ancient figures to ensure they are preserved for generations to come.

“It was a rewarding experience that connected classroom learning with real-world expertise,” said Yuan Angel who teaches 5/6 Chinese at Sidwell Friends. “It deepened students’ understanding of Chinese history and culture while inspiring curiosity, global awareness, and appreciation for world heritage.”

The program also mixed history and science. The students learned that when the statues were discovered by local farmers digging a well in 1974 near the city of Xi'an and exposed to oxygen, they all turned the color of sand. Originally, they had been painted in many colors made from plants, all except the color purple, which was made from an artificial chemical reaction. “The kids were fascinated by this and later asked their science teachers how they might recreate that reaction to make purple,” said Angel. 

Two weeks after the presentation, students were able to work on their own mini restoration kits, bringing history to life through hands-on learning. The kits, which were donated by the Chinese museum, included glue, cotton swaps, a face mask, an apron with “Master Restorer” emblazoned in Chinese, and a small broken terracotta warrior. Sidwell Friends has collaborated with the museum since 2022. As part of the partnership, students in Chinese classes have had the opportunity to participate in virtual field trips to the Terracotta Army Museum via Zoom and conducted virtual interviews with museum experts.