A Resource Guide for Students and Teachers - Bowers Museum

A Resource Guide for Students and Teachers 

BOWERS MUSEUM

China in Asia 

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3 TERRA TERRA COTTA COTTA WARRIORS 

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GUARDIANS OF CHINA’S FIRST EMPEROR 

A Resource Guide for Students and Teachers 

An assembled life-size 

archer from the terra 

cotta army. He once 

held a crossbow 

in his hands. 

Bowers Museum 

Houston Museum of Natural Science 

National Geographic Museum 


2002 North Main Street 

Santa Ana, California 92706 

714.567.3600 

www.bowers.org 

Funded by The Boeing Company 

i

View of statues from tomb 

ii TERRA COTTA WARRIORS

Project Director 

Linda Kahn 

Vice President of Education 


Principal Author 

Claire Scoggin 

Assistant Director of Youth Education Sales 

The Houston Museum of Natural Science 

Project Consultants 

Debbie Granger 

Coordinator, History and Social Science 

Orange County Department of Education 

Jim Thomas 

Coordinator, Visual and Performing Arts 

Orange County Department of Education 

Albert E. Dien, Ph.D. 

Professor Emeritus, Stanford University 

Project Contributors 

Glenda Cheung, Voice Artist 

The Warrior with the Smiling Moustache 

Jean Drum, Author 

The Warrior with the Smiling Moustache 

The Houston Museum of Natural Science 

National Geographic Society 

New Song Media, Audio Recording 

Rick Founds, Recording Engineer 

Erin Washington, CD Cover Design 

Rob Sexton 

S Design, www.s2design.com 

©2008 by Bowers Museum 

Permission is hereby granted to reproduce and distribute 

this publication for educational and research purposes. 

Acknowledgements 

Special Recognition and Thanks 

Peter C. Keller, Ph.D., President of Bowers Museum 

Barry Waldman, Board of Governors, 


Sarah Murr, Community Investor – 

Arts & Culture, The Boeing Company 

Chinese Cultural Arts Council, Bowers Museum 

Docent Guild, Bowers Museum 

Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China’s First 

Emperor is a publication of the Bowers Museum in 

conjunction with the Houston Museum of Natural 

Science and the National Geographic Museum 

and accompanies an exhibition of the same title 

touring the United States from May 18, 2008 

through March 31, 2010. 

Photo Credits 

Cover Photo: 

Wang Da-Gang 

All Other Photos: 

O. Louis Mazzatenta 

National Geographic Image Collection 

Artist Renderings 

Hsien-Min Yang 

Maps 

National Geographic 

Table of Contents 

Acknowledgements ....................................................... iii 

Table of Contents ........................................................... iii 

Message to the Teachers and Students ........................... iv 

Book Your Museum Tour ................................................iv 

Curriculum Connections ..................................................v 

Story 

The Warrior with the Smiling Moustache ........................1 

Historical Background 

Terra Cotta Warriors ...................................................... 11 

Daily Life in Ancient China ........................................... 19 

Traditional Values ..........................................................20 

Modern Way of Life .......................................................20 

Activities 

Student and Class Activities ........................................... 21 

Teacher and Student Resources 

Glossary ......................................................................... 31 

Booklists ........................................................................32 

Resources .......................................................................33 

Websites .........................................................................33 

iii

The Army of the Terra Cotta 

Warriors, first discovered in 

1974, is now recognized as the 

eighth wonder of the ancient 

world. Over 7000 life-size figures of 

soldiers, charioteers, archers, and 

cavalrymen were buried 2200 years 

ago in three large pits to guard the 

tomb of one of the most important 

rulers of the ancient world, the First 

Bowers Museum, in conjunction 

with the Houston Museum of 

Natural Science and National 

Geographic Museum, have 

designed Terra Cotta Warriors: 

Guardians of China’s First 

Emperor as a guide for teachers 

and students who will be visiting the 

exhibition, Terra Cotta Warriors: 

Guardians of China’s First 

Emperor (May 18, 2008 – October 

12, 2008). Working from the 

principle that the more you know 

about something, the better you will 

understand it, using this guide will 

give you a richer experience as you 

tour the museum. We hope it will 

help your students feel comfortable 

and at home in the exhibition and 

excited to see history come alive. 

iv TERRA COTTA WARRIORS 

Introduction 

Ruler of the Qin dynasty in China. 

We get our name China from the 

name of his dynasty, and much of 

what he accomplished influenced 

the way of life in China for the next 

2000 years. 

In the coming years, China will 

become increasingly important in 

our own future. We need to know 

more about its history and culture in 

The guide is composed of three 

sections. Begin by sharing the story 

with your students! Listening to the 

CD of The Warrior with the Smiling 

Moustache engages the students. 

This will set the stage for learning 

about the history, participating in 

the activities included in the guide, 

and heightening anticipation prior to 

visiting the exhibition. 

The second section presents 

a historical perspective offering 

background information about the 

First Emperor and the Qin dynasty. 

Grounded in this rich period of 

history, your visit through the gallery 

becomes an exciting experience. 

The third section, Student Activities, 

sets the stage as both a follow-up 

and conduit to learning about this 

order to understand it better and to 

help establish a mutual friendship. 

Following the terra cotta army, the 

First Emperor, and what he hoped to 

accomplish, can lead to a wonderful 

journey of learning about China. 

Albert E. Dien, Ph.D. 

Professor Emeritus 

Stanford University 

most interesting history. These 

varied classroom and independent 

activities will serve to sharpen the 

students’ knowledge and greatly 

enhance their experience during 

the visit. The activities will also 

help them relate the culture and 

civilization of China’s Qin dynasty 

to life in Southern California in the 

21st Century, and reinforce what they 

learn at Bowers Museum. 

When your students visit the 

museum, our hope is that this 

background information will have 

them saying, “Oh yes! I know about 

that!” as they view the artifacts. 

Education Department 


Book Your Bowers Museum Tour Today! 

School Tour and Art Class 

Booking Information 

This curriculum guide was 

specifically designed to prepare 

students for a visit to the Bowers 

Museum exhibit Terra Cotta 

Warriors: Guardians of China’s 

First Emperor (May 18 – October 

12, 2008). Featuring one of the 

most significant archaeological 

discoveries of the 20th century, this 

exciting exhibit showcases 100 objects, 

including 14 life-size terra cotta 

figures, two half-size wooden chariots, 

and life-size bronze animals, all 

from the tomb complex belonging to 

China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang 

(259-210 BC). 

The one-hour audio tour will 

directly reinforce the classroom 

lessons found in this guide, with 

Docents on hand for questions. In 

addition, cultural art classes, taught 

by professional art instructors at 

Kidseum in combination with a 

museum visit, allow students to create 

artwork that connects to their viewing 

of the exhibition. 

Gallery visits are available at 9:30 

a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 12:30 p.m., 

Tuesdays through Fridays. 

Art classes are available at 9:30 

a.m. and 11:00 a.m., also Tuesdays 

through Fridays. 

Bowers Museum offers curriculum 

guides aligned with our permanent 

exhibitions including The First 

Californians Gallery and California 

Legacies Gallery, detailing early 

California history. 

Kidseum, an interactive 

children’s museum, offers an array of 

educational programs including art 

classes, storytelling, after school and 

summer camp programs, outreach 

classroom programs, cultural art 

trunks, and educator workshops. 

To book a tour or class, please 

contact us at 714.567.3680. For more 

information, please view our website 

at www.bowers.org. To contact 

Kidseum, please call 714.480.1520. 

Educator E-Mail List/E-Gram 

If you would like to be placed on our 

Education e-mail list and receive 

updated information on our events 

designed specifically for educators, 

please visit our website at www.bowers. 

org/education. 

Contact Numbers 

Bowers Museum 714.567.3600 

Education Office 714.567.3679 

School Tours 714.567.3680 

Bowers Kidseum 714.480.1520

Chinese Culture and 

the California Curriculum 

California Academic Content 

Standards for Grade 6 

Visual Arts, History/Social Science, 

English/Language Arts, Science 

This guide supports the attainment of 

the following standards for California 

Public Schools. Only the specific 

standards highlighted in the lessons 

in this guide are listed. Not all the 

standards are covered. 

Reading 

Word Recognition 

1.1 Read aloud narrative and 

expository text fluently and 

accurately and with appropriate 

pacing, intonation and 

expression. 

Comprehension and Analysis of 

Grade-Level-Appropriate Text 

2.3 Connect and clarify main ideas by 

identifying their relationships to 

other sources and related topics. 

2.4 Clarify an understanding of texts 

by creating outlines, logical notes, 

summaries, or reports. 

3.0 Literary Response and Analysis 

Structural Forms of Literature 

3.2 Analyze the effect of the qualities 

of the character (e.g., courage or 

cowardice, ambition or laziness) 

on the resolution of the conflict. 

3.5 Recognize the speaker and 

recognize the difference between 

first- and third-person narration 

(e.g., autobiography compared 

with biography). 

Literary Criticism 

3.8 Critique the credibility of 

characterization and the degree 

to which a plot is contrived or 

realistic. 

Writing 

1.0 Writing Strategies 

Students write clear, coherent, 

and focused essays. The writing 

exhibits students’ awareness of 

the audience and purpose. Essays 

contain formal introductions, 

supporting evidence, and 

conclusions. Students progress 

through the stages of the writing 

process as needed. 

Organization and Focus 

1.2 Create multiple-paragraph 

expository compositions: 

a. Engage the interest of the 

reader and state a clear 

purpose. 

b. Develop the topic with 

supporting details and 

precise verbs, nouns, and 

adjectives to paint a visual 

image in the mind of the 

reader. 

c. Conclude with a detailed 

summary linked to the 

purpose of the composition. 

1.3 Use a variety of effective and 

coherent organizational 

patterns, including comparison 

and contrast; organization by 

categories; and arrangements by 

spatial order, order of importance, 

or climactic order. 

Curriculum Connections 

Listening and Speaking 

1.0 Listening and Speaking Strategies 

Students deliver focused, coherent 

presentations that convey 

ideas clearly and relate to the 

background and interests of 

the audience. They evaluate the 

content of oral communication. 

Comprehension 

1.3 Identify the tone, mood, and 

emotion conveyed in the oral 

communication. 

2.3 Write research reports: 

b. Support the main idea or 

ideas with facts, details, 

examples, and explanations 

from multiple authoritative 

sources (e.g., speakers, 

periodicals, online 

information searches). 

World History and Geography: 

Ancient Civilizations 

Students in grade six expand their 

understanding of history by studying 

the people and events that ushered in 

the dawn of the major Western and 

non-Western ancient civilizations. 

Geography is of special significance 

in the development of the human 

story. Continued emphasis is placed 

on the everyday lives, problems, and 

accomplishments of people, their 

role in developing social, economic, 

and political structures, as well 

as in establishing and spreading 

ideas that helped transform the 

world forever. Students develop 

higher levels of critical thinking 

by considering why civilizations 

developed where and when they did, 

why they became dominant, and 

why they declined. Students analyze 

the interactions among the various 

cultures, emphasizing their enduring 

contributions and the link, despite 

time, between the contemporary and 

ancient worlds. 

6.6 Students analyze the geographic, 

political, economic, religious, 

and social structures of the early 

civilizations of China. 

2. Explain the geographic 

features of China that made 

governance and the spread 

of ideas and goods difficult 

and served to isolate the 

country from the rest of the 

world. 

3. Know about the life of 

Confucius and the 

fundamental teachings of 

Confucianism and Taoism. 

4. Identify the political and 

cultural problems prevalent 

in the time of Confucius and 

how he sought to solve them. 

5. List the policies and 

achievements of the emperor 

Shihuangdi in unifying 

northern China under the 

Qin dynasty. 

Visual Arts 

1.0 Artistic Perception 

Processing, Analyzing, and 

Responding to Sensory 

Information Through the 

Language and Skills Unique to 

the Visual Arts 

Students perceive and respond to 

works of art, objects in nature, 

events, and the environment. 

They also use the vocabulary of 

the visual arts to express their 

observations. 

Develop Visual Arts Knowledge 

and Vocabulary 

1.1 Identify and describe all the 

elements of art found in selected 

works of art (color, shape/form, 

line, texture, space, and value). 

Analyze Art Elements and 

Principles of Design 

1.4 Describe how balance is effectively 

used in a work of art (e.g., 

symmetrical, asymmetrical, and 

radical). 

2.0 Historical and Cultural Context 

Understanding the Historical 

Contributions and Cultural 

Dimensions of the Visual Arts 

Students analyze the role and 

development of the visual arts 

in past and present cultures 

throughout the world, noting 

human diversity as it relates to the 

visual arts and artists. 

3.2 View selected works of art from 

a culture and describe how they 

have changed or not changed in 

theme and content over a period 

of time. 

v

The Warrior 

with the 

Smiling 

Moustache 

Ho Lin sat at the dinner table, 

where the steaming bowl 

of noodles, juicy pork, and 

vegetables was waiting to be 

eaten, but he didn’t even seem to 

notice it. Instead, he sat frowning 

into the distance, absently tapping his 

forehead with his chopsticks. His wife, 

Bi Ling, frowned back at him. She was 

proud of the good meals she made for 

her family, and she expected them 

to be eaten with smiles, not ignored 

with frowns. Mei Ling, and her twin 

brothers Chang Shen and Wan Hai, 

eyed their father worriedly. What was 

wrong? 

Ho Lin shook his head, hit his 

chopsticks on the table with a loud 

clack, and said, “It’s wrong. I just 

know it’s wrong. And what if the First 

Emperor finds out?” 

His family looked at each other 

with wide eyes. Ho Lin was the captain 

in charge of Pit Two of First Emperor’s 

tomb, the most astonishing, amazing 

construction project ever seen in the 

kingdom of China, and everyone 

knew that it must be perfect in every 

way, just as First Emperor wanted it. 

Everyone also knew that if it wasn’t 

perfect, First Emperor’s rage would 

be terrible to behold and every worker 

would fear for his life. This was 

serious business. 

“It’s the warrior in the second row, 

right in the front,” he explained. “The 

general with the smiling moustache. 

You know, he looks pleased, as if even 

his moustache is smiling. When I got 

to work this morning his moustache 

had been painted already, and I’m 

just sure it wasn’t done yesterday 

when I left. How could this have 

happened? I’m supposed to keep track 

of everything, absolutely everything, 

that happens in the pit.” 

They all understood what Ho 

Lin meant. Qin Shihuangdi, the 

First Emperor, the ruler of the great 

kingdom of Qin, was having his 

tomb built. Four huge pits had been 

dug in the ground by thousands of 

workers, and into those pits First 

Emperor’s army was put. No, not 

real human soldiers, of course. 

Terrible as First Emperor could be, 

he would not put live people into 

his tomb. No, this army was made 

of clay, more than 7,000 life-size 

clay soldiers, privates and generals, 

archers, swordsmen, and cavalry, 

all in rows, ready to defend the First 

Emperor in the afterlife, just as his 

human army had defended him in 

his mortal life. Weapons, chariots, 

horses, everything an army needed 

was there. First Emperor would be 

safe and protected for all eternity. He 

would also be entertained, for the 

imperial musicians and jugglers were 

also there, and even trained dancing 

swans and geese for his pleasure. 

“One moustache?” laughed 

Bi Ling, her eyes twinkling with 

amusement. “How can you keep track 

of every moustache in the army? 

One of the painters surely painted it 

yesterday. As long as it looks right, 

how can it matter?” 

“It’s not just one moustache,” 

sighed Ho Lin, rubbing his fingers 

through his carefully arranged top 

knot, making stray strands of hair 

fall down over his eyes. “It’s that 

everything must be perfect, and if I 

lose track of one moustache, what 

else might I overlook? It could be 

something that is really important. I 

have to solve this mystery before many 

more days have passed.” He brushed 

the hair from his face and sighed 

again. 

“Is First Emperor really that 

terrible?” asked Mei Ling. Of course 

everyone had heard stories about First 

Emperor, but how could he expect 

everyone and everything to be perfect 

all the time? 

“Well,” nodded Ho Lin. “It is true 

that he has done many good things 

for our kingdom. Now we have the 

same kind of coins everywhere, so 

merchants can sell their goods and 

customers can buy what they want 

easily. You know, here in our city we 

attracted merchants from the west 

and east of us, so we used to have to 

deal with two different types of coins, 

some that looked like knives and 

others that looked like spades. It made 

trade complicated.” 

Chang Shen and Wan Hai grinned 

as they thought of their treasured 

round bronze coins with the square 

hole in the middle which they 

planned to use to buy sweetmeats at 

the next market day. They both had 

what their sister described as a sweet 

tooth big enough for a tiger. 

Bi Ling smiled. “Yes,” she said, 

“The new coins are easier to use, 

and it’s nice when the merchants at 

the market use them. When I pay for 

something or get change back, there’s 

never any argument now. Sometimes 

I used to have to be really unpleasant 

when I thought the persimmon man 

wasn’t giving me enough “spades” for 

the number of “knives” I had given 

him. But just the same, the old coins 

had interesting shapes and they were 

fun to have. I kind of miss them.” 

“And,” Ho Lin went on, “since all 

carriages must have their wheels the 

same distance apart, they can travel 

easily in the same ruts in the road all 

over the kingdom. That makes life 

much more pleasant. He has made 

all merchants use the same weights 

so that when you buy a dou of grain 

you get the same amount anywhere in 

the kingdom. It’s hard for anyone to 

be cheated now. And,” he continued, 

waving his chopsticks at Chang Shen 

1

2 TERRA COTTA WARRIORS

Colored pigments still cling to the face of this 

terra cotta soldier, buried to accompany China’s 

first emporer, Qin Shi Huang, in the afterlife 

and Wan Hai, who complained about 

having to practice calligraphy, “we 

now have a simpler form of writing 

which makes keeping records so 

much easier.” 

“True,” sighed Bi Ling, “but 

everyone in the land must do exactly 

as First Emperor says or they may pay 

with their lives.” 

(army) 

After the meal was over, the three 

children went outside to sit under the 

big mulberry tree behind the house. 

Under the tree were baskets waiting to 

be filled with the bright green leaves 

which would be fed to silkworms. 

These very particular creatures would 

eat only mulberry leaves before they 

spun their cocoons of strong, shiny 

thread which could be made into 

the lovely shimmering silk cloth that 

would travel on the backs of patient 

camels to far off lands to the far 

west, where it was worth its weight in 

gold. Only in China was the secret of 

making this wonderful cloth known. 

“I’m afraid for Father,” said Chang 

Shen. “If something is not right with 

the soldiers in the tomb and First 

Emperor finds out, Father could be 

punished.” 

“Punished!” muttered Wan 

Hai. “Worse than that. He could be 

beheaded!” 

Mei Ling gasped. “We’ve got to do 

something,” she declared. “Right now 

we have to do something.” 

“But what can we do?” chorused 

her brothers. “We’re just kids. We can’t 

even get into the tomb where the clay 

army is.” 

“Kids or no kids, who else is 

there?” Mei Ling demanded. She 

never admitted that anything was 

impossible. Sometimes her brothers, 

who were, after all, only a year 

younger, wondered why they so often 

let her take charge, but they had 

to admit that she got things done. 

“Father can’t let anyone know that he 

suspects a problem. He’d be blamed 

right away. We can’t ask any grownups 

to help us. That might get Father 

into trouble too. We’re the only ones 

who know about this who won’t make 

it worse for father, and so we’re the 

only ones who can do something.” 

With her hands on her hips, she 

glared at her brothers. “Can you think 

of a better way?” 

They shook their heads. “How do 

we begin?” wondered Wan Hai. 

“We need to find out exactly what 

goes on in there,” said Chang Shen. 

“When we know just what all the 

workmen do and how they do it, we 

can begin to figure out how someone 

might be able to do something he 

wasn’t supposed to.” 

“Right,” smiled Mei Ling. 

“Confucius has said that knowledge is 

the key to life, so we have to educate 

ourselves about what goes on in the 

tomb.” 

Three heads bent over the ground 

as Chang Shen found a small stick 

and began to write in the dust a list 

of the things they needed to do. First, 

they agreed, they had to find a way to 

get into the tomb during the working 

day and see what really went on and 

who worked on what. They needed to 

know the entire work routine. Then 

they had to pay some special attention 

to paint – who paints, where the paint 

and brushes are kept, who supervises 

the painters, what a person needs to 

know in order to be a good painter. 

“Whew!” breathed Wan Hai, 

“That’s a tall order. We’re going to 

have to work fast to find out all that.” 

“Exactly,” said Mei Ling. “That’s 

why we can’t waste a minute.” 

(father) 

The next morning their first 

problem was solved in the most 

unbelievable way. As Bi Ling handed 

everyone a dish of noodles and 

vegetables, Ho Lin looked at Chang 

Shen and Wan Hai and said, “A 

messenger from the supervisor of the 

tomb workers came by earlier. He 

needs boys to run errands for him 

this morning because he will be busy 

overseeing a new shipment of clay 

from Mount Li which will arrive soon. 

He thought you could do a good job.” 

The boys carefully kept themselves 

from smiling or looking at each other 

lest they give anything away, and 

said, “Yes, Father, we’d be happy to do 

that.” 

“Well, work carefully and follow 

all the instructions you’re given,” said 

Ho Lin. “It’s an honor to help on this 

great work.” 

As soon as they could, the three 

children met again under the 

mulberry tree. 

“You’ve got to notice everything, 

absolutely everything and remember 

it all,” said Mei Ling. 

“We will,” they promised. “Mei 

Ling, why don’t you go over to the 

shop of Zhu the painter and see if you 

can find out anything interesting. 

Maybe someone has been asking 

questions about paint.” 

She nodded. “In fact, I’m going to 

look and listen all over the village. No 

one will suspect that a girl would have 

anything important to do with the 

emperor’s tomb. I bet I’ll be able to 

find some clues to what’s happening.” 

(clay) 

When the boys walked into the first 

pit that morning, their jaws dropped 

in astonishment. They had heard, of 

course, of the great clay army that 

First Emperor was making to guard 

him in the afterlife, but seeing it took 

their breath away. Row after row of 

clay figures, more than life-size, all 

standing as if ready for battle. They 

looked alive, with their hair arranged 

in braids and buns and every strand 

carefully carved, their uniforms 

gleaming in blue and red, purple 

and green, yellow and orange. Rows 

of kneeling archers with crossbows 

alternated with standing archers, so 

that while one row fired, the other 

had time to reload, just as they would 

be in a real battle. Others had spears, 

halberds, and battle-axes. No soldier 

wore a helmet or carried a shield. 

They wanted to show they were too 

brave to need to wear armor. 

The supervisor walked over to 

them. “You boys should walk around 

the workshop and let the foremen 

know that you can do any errands 

they need,” he told them. “Just keep 

your eyes and ears open and make 

yourselves useful.” 

Barely able to keep from letting 

their excitement show, Chang Shen 

and Wan Hai began to walk around 

the workshops. “ Look at the horses,” 

Wan Hai pointed. 

“They’re wonderful,” agreed 

Chang Shen. And indeed they were. 

Clay Mongolian ponies, small but 

3

powerful, looking as if they were just 

straining to gallop across a battlefield. 

Their fur was being painted a deep 

brown, and their ears and nostrils 

were pink. “Look how their tails are 

braided,” he added. 

“Yes,” said his brother. “Father 

told me that’s done so the tails won’t 

get caught in the harness of the 

chariot they’re pulling.” 

They passed several rows of legs. 

All the legs were made of solid clay 

so the statues would stand firmly on 

the ground. Some of the legs wore 

loose pants and boots with upturned 

toes on their feet. Others, meant for 

the archers who had to be able to 

move swiftly, wore low flat shoes tied 

securely on their feet. 

Further along they found rows of 

hollow torsos standing side by side, 

waiting to be attached to their legs. 

“Look how every one is different,” 

said Chang Shen. “You can see every 

detail on their uniforms. Look at the 

fish scale design on that man’s armor. 

And this one has bigger plates of 

armor fastened together.” 

“Yes,” added Wan Hai, “The more 

important officers have the smallest 

pieces in their armor, and the lower 

ranks have bigger pieces. Look, this 

man has no armor at all. I guess 

he isn’t supposed to be fighting in 

the front lines. Maybe he’s the chief 

commander.” 

4 TERRA COTTA WARRIORS 

“And this one has his arms set 

ready to draw his bow. How real he 

looks!” marveled Chang Shen. 

They were interrupted by a 

workman with a wheelbarrow. “Here, 

you fellows. Make yourselves useful. 

We need a new supply of clay. Run to 

the clay shed and ask them to put two 

dou into the wheelbarrow and get it 

back here. Think you two can handle 

that?” 

“Oh yes,” chorused Chang Shen 

and Wan Hai, and off they went. As 

they trundled the wheelbarrow back, 

one to each handle, they passed the 

workshop of the sculptors who were 

carefully creating the heads. The 

already completed heads, which 

would be added to the torsos later, 

were sitting in the shade to dry, and 

sculptors were working on others, 

shaping noses, fashioning eyebrows 

above the eyes, and molding ears. 

“That one must be going to be a 

general,” laughed Wan Hai, pointing 

to one of the heads. “Look how serious 

and worried he looks, with those lines 

in his forehead. Maybe he’s afraid his 

battle plan will fail.” 

(help) 

While Chang Shen and Wan Hai 

were busy in the workshop, Mei Ling 

was equally busy exploring the town 

for clues and ideas. As she headed 

toward Zhu’s shop, she walked across 

an arching bridge over the canal. 

Beneath her a merchant poled his 

small boat, with its curved roof of 

reeds, along the water. The boat was 

piled with peaches and melons which 

he would sell at the market in the 

center of town. Two important looking 

government officials rode by in a twowheeled 

carriage pulled by a proud 

horse with flowing mane and braided 

tail. The trim looking carriage 

was topped by a blue umbrella, its 

color signifying that they were only 

commoners, not royalty. The oiled 

mulberry bark paper canopy stretched 

over the delicate bamboo frame and 

shaded them comfortably as they 

made their way toward the palace. 

Even this early in the morning, there 

were customers crowding around the 

street stalls, enjoying steaming bowls 

of millet porridge or perhaps honey 

rolls before they continued the day’s 

work. 

As she neared the painter’s shop, 

Mei Ling could see the shelves of paint 

pots, each one holding a different 

color—blue, red, green, yellow, 

orange, white, black, and the brilliant 

purple which had been invented by 

alchemists who were hoping to make 

imitation jade. Besides paint pots, 

Zhu’s shelves had rows of baskets 

which held brushes of all sizes, 

dishes of white lead to make creamy 

white paint, and pans of charcoal for 

black. Plates held piles of rusty red 

cinnabar, sea-blue lapis lazuli from 

the mountains far to the west, forest 

green malachite, and poisonous 

yellow orpiment. Zhu would pound 

these stones into a fine, dusty powder 

and mix it with tung seed oil or fish 

glue to make a smooth, bright paint. 

It all seemed mysterious and exciting, 

and Mei Ling thought it would be a 

wonderful place to work. 

As she came to the shop next 

door to Zhu’s, a busy bronze maker’s 

workplace with its red glowing 

furnace, she saw the young apprentice 

stirring the molten mix of copper, 

lead, and tin, ready to pour it into a 

mold to make a bronze vessel, maybe 

a wine jar or maybe a sword blade. 

On the window sill was a cricket cage 

made of bamboo, where the small 

brown insect waved its long feelers as 

if it were greeting her. She smiled at it, 

because crickets were good luck. She 

also admired the cage, which wasn’t 

just the usual plain tan bamboo. No, 

this cage had been painted lovingly in 

brilliant colors. It had a peaked roof 

of bright red, almost like the tiles on 

a nobleman’s elegant house, and the 

sides were deep blue. And the door! 

The door was the gorgeous purple 

that she had heard her father describe 

when he told about the uniforms of 

the soldiers in First Emperor’s tomb. 

“What a special cricket cage,” 

thought Mei Ling, as she stood 

admiring it. Inside the shop the 

apprentice looked up and noticed her. 

“Is this your cricket?” she asked 

him. Smiling, the boy came over to 

the window, pushing back the unruly 

shock of black hair that fell over his 

left eye. In his hand he was holding a 

small bronze model of a tiger. 

“Yes,” he answered. “My master 

likes the cricket here. He thinks it 

brings good luck to his work, and I 

thought it would be nice to have a 

very special cage for my cricket. I had 

fun painting the cage. I’d really rather 

be a painter than a bronze maker, but 

my father apprenticed me to Master 

Jang, so here I am.” He shrugged his 

shoulders and smiled at her again. 

“My name is Yung Fu,” he added. 

“I’m Mei Ling,” she told him. “My 

father is a foreman in the emperor’s 

tomb where all the soldiers are being 

made.” 

“Ah,” said Yung Fu,. “We’re just 

making some hufu, tiger tallies, for 

the emperor. Look.” He held up the 

bronze tiger so she could see it. 

Mei Ling took the smooth little 

model of the tiger in her hand. It was 

really two identical halves of a tiger, 

fashioned as if it were lying quietly 

on the ground with its two front paws 

neatly in place under his chin. “What 

does the emperor do with this?”

Split bronze tiger devised to testify to the authority of bearer 

she asked, looking at both halves 

curiously. 

“It’s when he wants to send orders 

to one of his generals,” answered 

Yung Fu. “He has to make sure that 

his generals know that orders come 

straight from the emperor, not some 

enemy or traitor trying to make 

trouble. So he gives the general one 

half of the tiger and he keeps the 

other half. Then when he needs to 

send a message, he sends his tiger half 

with the message, and the general 

knows that if it matches the tiger half 

he has, the message is truly from the 

First Emperor.” 

As she walked on to Zhu’s shop, 

she wondered if Yung Fu had heard 

all the stories about the First Emperor 

and his harsh laws and was afraid 

of him. She thought she had seen a 

worried look in his eyes when she told 

him about her father’s job. 

For the next few hours, she learned 

more than she ever thought she 

could about paint and color from 

Zhu. “You know,” he told her, “First 

Emperor favors the color black. It is 

like the sky in the morning just before 

the sun comes up, so it symbolizes 

heaven.” He pointed to the roof of 

his workshop, with its black tiles, 

each with a phoenix molded on 

the endpiece. “First Emperor would 

like my roof. Not only is it his most 

auspicious color, but each phoenix 

on the end pieces means eternal life, 

and we know that the emperor wants 

to live forever. That’s why he’s making 

this wonderful tomb where your father 

is working so hard.” 

Zhu was a man who loved his 

job and knew everything there was 

to know about paints and colors. 

Unfortunately for Mei Ling, what 

he didn’t know was who could have 

painted the soldier’s moustache. 

Not that she told him about that, of 

course, since it was strictly a secret, 

but she asked him enough questions 

to know that he knew nothing about 

what went on inside the tomb. He only 

delivered paint. 

(cricket) 

Chang Shan and Wan Hai strolled 

slowly home after their first day 

working in First Emperor’s tomb. It 

had been an exciting day. They had 

been able to watch everything that 

went on and as they ran errands for 

anyone who needed them, they had 

kept their eyes very wide open for 

any clues to the painted moustache 

problem. 

“All kinds of workers come and go 

all day long,” said Chang Shen. “No 

one bothers to notice who they are or 

where they go.” 

“Yes,” agreed Wan Hai, “it 

wouldn’t be hard for someone to hide 

in the tomb after all the workers leave 

for the day.” 

“And paint at night?” questioned 

Chang Shen. “How would he be able 

to see? Where would he get the paint? 

Everything the workers use is put 

away in its proper place at the end 

of the day. The supervisors are very 

particular about that.” 

“I know,” Wan Hai answered him. 

“I can’t figure out how it could be 

done. Tomorrow let’s find a way to 

check out the paint room.” 

“But light,” argued Chang Shen. 

“He’d need light to do a good job. 

How would he get that? And wouldn’t 

someone notice if there was light in 

the tomb at night?” 

“I don’t know,” admitted Wan Hai. 

“But listen, let’s go over to the tomb 

after evening noodles tonight and see 

what it looks like after dark. We may 

get some ideas.” 

When the family gathered for 

noodles that evening, Ho Lin smiled 

at his sons. “You did very good work 

today,” he told them. “Everyone 

thinks you’re the best assistants we’ve 

ever had on the job. We’ll be needing 

you for quite a few more days. We’re 

extra busy right now trying to get a lot 

done before the emperor comes on his 

next visit of inspection.” 

Of course this was just what the 

boys wanted to hear, and they grinned 

at Mei Ling, who grinned back and 

raised her eyebrows, signaling that she 

had some interesting news to share. 

They had quite an argument later 

on when it came time to go over to the 

tomb in the dark. Mei Ling insisted 

that she was coming too, while her 

brothers were sure it would be too 

dangerous and scary for a girl. They 

should have known better than to try 

to stop her. 

“No way,” she said, “Don’t you 

think for one minute that I’m scared 

to go over there in the dark. First of 

all, l’m the oldest, and second, I don’t 

get scared. Period.” And she planted 

her feet firmly on the ground and 

glared at her brothers. 

They knew when they were beaten, 

so all three set out quietly through the 

town toward the dark tomb site. They 

walked softly, only whispering a word 

or two from time to time. The night 

was silent and only the pale light of 

the sliver of the moon shone down on 

them. The only sound they could hear 

was crickets chirping in the grass. 

“Look,” Mei Ling suddenly 

whispered, and just as they turned 

their heads in the direction she was 

pointing, a tiny, faintly pale glimmer 

of light was extinguished, and the 

5

lackness of the night surrounded 

them again. 

“It was someone,” breathed 

Wan Hai. “Do you think it was the 

moustache painter?” 

“Who knows?” said Chang Shen. 

“But for sure he’s disappeared for 

good now. We could never find him in 

this dark.” 

Later that night they made more 

plans for the next day. Wan Hai and 

Chang Shen would try to find how 

someone could get in and out of the 

tomb at night and look for any signs 

of the moustache painter. Mei Ling 

would offer to take their father his 

noon noodles and use the chance 

to look around the workplace for 

any other clues. They felt like they 

had made a lot of progress, even if 

they hadn’t come near to solving the 

mystery yet. 

(dark) 

The next day as Mei Ling 

walked into the workplace with her 

father’s noon meal of noodles and 

persimmon-duck stew, she looked 

around in amazement. She stopped in 

front of a handsome general standing 

in front of his troops. His elegant 

shoes curled up at the toes, his cap 

sported a pheasant feather, painted 

lovingly in its brilliant colors, and 

his armor, made of small metal fish 


scales, had bright tassels hanging 

from it. As she looked at him, she 

could understand why someone would 

love to paint the statues. When they 

were painted, they seemed to spring to 

life, so different from the plain gray 

clay ones awaiting their turn. 

She was strolling around, 

unnoticed by the busy workers, when 

suddenly she noticed a familiar face. 

Where had she seen that face before, 

she wondered. It was a young boy, 

a few years older that she was, and 

he was carrying an armful of sword 

blades back to one of the storage 

areas. She cudgeled her brain into 

thought, and... yes, that was it! It 

was Yung Fu, the bronze maker’s 

apprentice with the cricket cage in 

the window sill. He was delivering 

swords for the “army” from his 

master’s shop. She waved, but he 

was concentrating too hard on his 

awkward load of sharp, pointed sword 

blades to notice her as he hurried into 

the next room. 

That night, the three detectives 

gathered once again under the 

mulberry tree. “Everyone is so busy 

working over there that it wouldn’t be 

hard for someone to sneak in,” said 

Chang Shen. 

“Yes,” agreed Mei Ling, “No one 

paid any attention to me at all, and 

I wandered all over. I even saw the 

bronze maker’s apprentice delivering 

a load of swords.” 

“All true,” added Wan Hai, “But 

what we have to do is figure out 

how to get in after the workers go 

home. I think we all suppose that 

the moustache painter goes in while 

everyone’s still working and just stays 

there until everyone is gone. Then he 

paints. It is easy for him to get out 

after all. Not so easy for us to get in.” 

“The first thing is to find out 

where he comes out. That’ll show us 

where we can get in.” 

“No,” Chang Shen disagreed. 

“That’s doing it the hard way. What 

we need to do is to do what he does. 

Just stay in the tomb and hide until 

he starts painting. Then we’ll find out 

who it is.” 

“Well,” objected Wan Hai, “that’s 

all very well, but what are father and 

mother going to say if we don’t come 

home for evening noodles? They’ll 

run all over looking for us. They’ll be 

worried, and it will spoil our whole 

plan besides.” 

“Hmmmm,” murmured Mei Ling. 

“You’re right. We have to have a better 

idea than that.” She closed her eyes 

and put her hands over her ears. After 

a second or two, her eyes flew open, 

and she said, “Yes!” 

“What is it?” asked Chang Shen. 

“Have you got an idea?” asked 

Wan Hai. 

“Absolutely,” smiled Mei Ling. “All 

of us are right about this. We have to 

find out how the moustache painter 

leaves.” 

“But I thought....,” muttered 

Chang Shen. 

“No, wait and let me finish,” 

commanded Mei Ling. “Tomorrow 

we find out where he leaves. Then 

one of you (nodding at her brothers) 

manages to get over to that entrance 

and fix it so that the door doesn’t close 

completely. You’ll have to be careful 

so that no one will notice. Closed just 

enough so that it looks closed, but 

open just enough so that we can get it 

open and get in. Got that?” 

“Yeah,” grinned Chang Shen. 

“You know, I think that will really 

work.” 

Satisfied, they went back in and 

didn’t even complain when their 

mother told them it was time for bed. 

The next day seemed to last 

forever, even though of course it 

really didn’t. Chang Shen and Wan 

Hai hurried here and there, taking 

messages to workmen at the tomb 

and carrying supplies to groups of 

workmen. Chang Shen got to see 

inside one of the hollow horse torsos 

and the worker even let him scratch 

his name on it. (The inside, that 

is, where it would never be seen by 

anyone.) Wan Hai helped an archery 

specialist set up the place for one 

of the mechanical crossbows that 

would be placed at the entrance to 

the tomb, where it would fire arrows 

automatically if anyone dared to try to 

enter the tomb. That was fun because 

the archer showed him just how the 

crossbow worked and how powerful a 

weapon it was. 

Mei Ling went back to Zhu’s paint 

shop and learned more about how 

the paint and brushes were made. 

She loved the soft furry feel of the 

fine brushes, and Zhu let her paint 

on some scraps of clay he had lying 

around. While she was there, Yung Fu, 

the bronze maker’s apprentice came 

into the shop and was greeted happily 

by Zhu. 

“See, Mei Ling,” he said, looking 

at the boy. “Here is a real painter. 

He works in bronze right now, but 

his heart is in paint. Some day he’ll 

realize this and become one of our 

kingdom’s finest workers with the 

brushes and colors.” 

Yung Fu turned red with 

embarrassment and smiled shyly at 

Mei Ling. Silently he took her brush 

and the piece of clay she was painting 

on and with a few quick strokes made 

the plum blossom she had started to 

paint come alive and seem to jump 

right off the clay. 

“I can almost smell its perfume, 

it looks so real!” she exclaimed in

wonder. “Yung Fu, you are an artist, a 

real artist.” 

Redder than ever, Yung Fu hastily 

slipped out the door and back to 

his work at the bronze maker’s. Mei 

Ling watched him with a thoughtful 

expression on her face. She was 

remembering that she had seen him 

in the tomb, delivering sword blades, 

and he loved to paint, and... 

(plum) 

Finally the day ended and it was 

again time for evening noodles for 

Chang Shen, Wan Hai, Mei Ling and 

their parents. Ho Lin ate abstractedly, 

his mind a million miles away. 

He had already told them that the 

moustache painter had been at work 

again. This time he had completed 

the rest of the warrior’s face and the 

rich purple cuffs on the sleeves of his 

uniform. Once again the work was 

beautifully done, as fine as the most 

experienced painter could do. But that 

didn’t really help. It still meant that 

someone was alone with the warriors 

at night, and if that could happen, 

who knew what else might happen. 

Ho Lin was a deeply worried man. 

Later that night, the three 

detectives quietly left the house and 

approached the tomb area. Before 

they had set out, they had discussed 

what they were going to do. 


“We can’t just yell at him,” said 

Mei Ling. “It would scare him and 

if he had the brush in his hand he 

might make a terrible mess on the 

warrior that couldn’t be repaired. 

Wouldn’t that be awful!” 

“Or he might jump and 

accidentally knock the warrior over 

and break it,” suggested Chang Shen. 

“That would be even worse.” 

They thought about it and decided 

that they would make some small 

noises as they got closer to the painter, 

to sort of warn him a little bit, and 

then they would tell him right away 

that they didn’t mean him any harm. 

It wasn’t a perfect plan, but it was the 

best they could think of. They just 

hoped it would work. 

Wan Hai led his brother and sister 

to the spot where there was a small 

side door for deliverymen to get into 

the work area, out of the way of the 

busy workers. Just as he had left it, 

the door was open a tiny crack, and 

as silently as three mice they crept 

inside. At first the work area seemed 

as dark as a starless night, but as their 

eyes got used to it, they could see a 

faint glow far on the other side. Mouse 

like, they tip-toed toward the glow. As 

they got nearer, the glow brightened, 

and in the distance, past a few more 

rows of warriors, they could see a 

shadowy figure, the light from the 

small lamp on the floor casting an 

eerie light upwards onto his face. With 

brush in hand, he was meticulously 

applying paint to the armor of the 

warrior, emerald green and scarlet 

fish scales, each one looking as if it 

were part of the general’s real armor. 

Fascinated at what they were seeing, 

they forgot to be as mouse like as they 

planned, but the moustache painter 

was so absorbed in his work that he 

wouldn’t have noticed them if they 

had brought the real army and all of 

its horses with them. 

“Uh...,” began Mei Ling, not 

knowing how to begin now that 

they were really there seeing it all 

happening. 

The moustache painter turned 

around, a dreamy look in his eyes, 

blinked a couple of times, brushed 

back the hair off his forehead with an 

absent gesture, and then opened his 

eyes wide. “Oh,” he blurted out. “How 

did you get in here? Who are you? 

What are you doing here?” 

Suddenly he seemed to realize 

the position he was in, and he looked 

around, apprehensively, as if he were 

expecting to see First Emperor’s 

guards suddenly appear with swords 

drawn. 

“It is you, Yung Fu,” exclaimed 

Mei Ling. “I should have known. In 

fact, I did sort of guess.” 

“Don’t worry,” Wan Hai hastily 

reassured him. “We don’t mean any 

harm to you. We just had to find out 

who the moustache painter was. It 

was because of father, you see.” 

Yung Fu looked more confused 

than ever as he looked from Wan Hai 

to Mei Ling and then over to Chang 

Shen. “Moustache painter? Father?” 

he frowned. “What do you mean?” 

“Put your brush down,” said Mei 

Ling, “before you drip paint on the 

floor. Sit down, and we’ll explain.” 

Still puzzled, Yung Fu carefully 

placed his brush in its dish, and all 

four of them sat on the hard earthen 

floor. The three detectives began to 

explain, taking turns but interrupting 

each other all the time, and coming 

back again and again to the fearsome 

wrath of First Emperor if anything 

went wrong with the building of his 

tomb. 

“You see,” began Wan Hai. “Father 

noticed that the moustache had been 

painted by someone who shouldn’t 

have been in the tomb, and Father is 

supposed to keep track of everything 

that happens. That’s his job, and if 

the emperor found out that he hadn’t 

done his job correctly, well…….” 

“Yes,” Mei Ling rushed on, her 

words tumbling over one another, “He 

couldn’t go to his chief or tell any of 

the other workers. That would get him 

in trouble too, because it is his job to 

see that nothing like this happens. 

First Emperor never listens to excuses, 

you know.” 

“So,” said Chang Shen, “It had to 

be us. We had to solve the mystery and 

help Father. You understand, don’t 

you? We had to save Father.” 

Slowly Yung Fu nodded. “I didn’t 

think about that,” he said. “I would 

never have wanted to cause anyone 

trouble with the First Emperor. I never 

thought about what would happen. 

It’s just that... well... I mean... I want... 

well... I just have to paint.” Blushing 

furiously, he looked at the three 

detectives. 

“You do paint wonderfully,” said 

Mei Ling. “Remember that plum 

blossom you painted for me at Zhu’s 

shop? And your cricket cage? It looks 

like a cricket palace, it’s so beautiful. 

You ought to be one of the First 

Emperor’s painters. You’d be the best.” 

Yung Fu smiled and began to look 

a little bit happy for the first time. But 

then he sighed, “I don’t know how I 

could ever be allowed to do that.” 

“There’s only one thing to do,” 

said Chang Shen decidedly. “We’ll tell 

Father all about it. He’ll know what 

the best thing to do is.” 

Yung Fu looked alarmed. “But I’ve 

caused your father a lot of worry and 

trouble,” he stammered. “He’ll be very 

angry with me. And if he tells Master 

Jang I will surely lose my job. I need 

my job. My family depends on me.”

“Don’t worry,” Wan Hai assured 

him. “When we explain it all to 

Father, he’ll understand. After all, no 

harm has been done, and now that we 

know everything, no one will get in 

trouble. You will see.” 

(emperor) 

There was a great deal of 

conversation at morning noodles in 

Ho Lin’s house the next day. The three 

detectives were up early, very early, 

unable to wait to tell their father all 

that had happened the night before. 

“You mean that this boy, this 

Yung Fu, hid in the workplace and 

no one noticed?” Ho Lin asked in 

astonishment. “What do we have 

guards for anyway, I wonder.” 

“I bet they all went to sleep,” 

guessed Chang Shen. “After all, you 

can’t blame them. It’s dark and quiet 

in there and who could imagine that 

someone would hide in there just to 

paint a warrior.” 

“Well, you’re right,” agreed his 

father. “I guess I wouldn’t have 

thought of such a thing myself.” 

“It’s a good thing though,” said 

Mei Ling. “Otherwise Yung Fu would 

never have gotten a chance to paint.” 

“Hmmmm,” grumbled Ho Lin. 

“Maybe so, but I wish he had chosen 

a different way of applying for a job! 

Why if this sort of thing keeps up, we 

could have the workplace crawling 

with people all night every night! 

Then what am I supposed to do?” 

“Well, Father, I guess you’ll just 

have to get some better light in there 

and set up a 24 hour a day work 

schedule,” laughed Wan Hai. 

“I need to see this young man,” 

said Ho Lin, “and have a good talk 

with him. I have to admit that he did 

a wonderful job. We could use him 

on our work crew, but how can I hire 

someone who disobeyed the rules? You 

know how important it is to obey First 

Emperor’s rules.” 

The three detectives nodded, their 

faces serious as they thought of First 

Emperor, whom everyone obeyed 

without question. 

Nevertheless, it was a cheerful 

procession that wound its way to the 

shop of the bronze maker. Master 

Jang, who had no idea what this was 

all about, stared at his visitors with a 

puzzled face, bowing in greeting to 

Ho Lin. 

“Master Jang,” began Ho Lin. 

“I understand you have a young 

apprentice here who is named Yung 

Fu.” 

“Why yes,” replied the curious 

bronze maker. “Why do you ask? He 

is an excellent apprentice and always 

does his work carefully. Sometimes, 

though, I have thought that his 

thoughts often fly far away from our 

fiery furnace and molten metal here.” 

“Exactly,” said Ho Lin, while 

Chang Shen, Wan Hai, and Mei Ling 

watched anxiously. “I think you’ll 

find that even while he’s filling molds 

with your red-hot mixture of tin and 

copper, his mind’s eye is seeing a 

world of wonderful colors. He longs for 

red and blue, yellow, green, and deep 

purple. He needs to paint.” 

As Ho Lin spoke, Yung Fu had 

slid quietly into the room and was 

watching and listening, his mouth 

open and his eyes wide as he saw his 

three friends from the night before 

and the serious looking foreman of 

the tomb workshop. 

“Color,” mused Master Jang. “You 

have something there. Yes, he does 

talk about color. He notices the green 

fields. He says there are a hundred 

different kinds of green. Imagine 

that! How can green be anything but 

green? And I do know that he often 

spends his free time with Zhu in his 

paint shop next door. I never stopped 

to think about what he does there.” 

At that moment, Zhu himself, 

attracted by all the unusual visitors 

to his neighbor’s shop, appeared in 

the doorway and heard Master Jang’s 

words. 

“Oh, I can tell you that,” he 

exclaimed eagerly. “Yung Fu paints! 

He is drawn to paint like a bee to a 

flower. I have given him a few lessons 

and in no time at all, he was painting 

as if he had been born to do that 

one thing and only that thing. I tell 

you, this young man should have 

a different job. You make exquisite 

bronzes, Jang, but bronze has only 

one color, and Yung Fu needs a 

rainbow to make his life complete.” 

“Well,” said Ho Lin, “I think we’ll 

have to see what can be done about 

this. Come, Yung Fu,” and putting 

his hand on Yung Fu’s shoulder, 

he headed for the workshop of the 

emperor’s tomb. 

Wan Hai, Chang Shen, and 

Mei Ling looked at each other and 

followed after them. No one had told 

them they couldn’t, had they? And 

they knew they just had to know what 

was going to happen. 

As they neared the tomb, five 

workers hurried by, followed by the 

chief of the sculptors. The chief was 

carrying a long, brightly colored silk 

scarf over his arm. Ho Lin hurried 

his steps, pulling Yung Fu along with 

him. 

“What can be happening?” he 

muttered, a slightly worried expression 

on his face. 

When the group reached the door 

of the workshop, one of the workers 

met them. 

“It’s General Zhong Yi,” he told 

them breathlessly. “He’s just arrived 

for a tour of inspection of the army. 

He especially wants to see himself.” 

“Himself?” said Wan Hai, puzzled. 

“Yes,” explained Ho Lin. “You 

know that many of the terra cotta 

warriors are modeled after real 

people. The general is one of them. 

And... uh-oh, my goodness, the 

general! He’s the one that Yung Fu 

painted! Oh, oh,” and he sped off into 

the tomb workshop. 

The three detectives and Yung Fu 

hurried after him. When they reached 

the row of warriors where the general 

stood, they gathered quietly in the 

shadow of another warrior to see what 

was happening. 

Ho Lin was watching as the chief 

of the sculptors bowed low before 

General Zhong and ceremoniously 

handed him the silk scarf. “Long 

life and many days may you have, 

General,” he said, bowing again. 

The general nodded as one 

of his aides put the scarf around 

his shoulders. Then he turned to 

“himself” and regarded the clay 

statue with interest. He turned his 

head to get a better view and then 

leaned closer to examine the tassels 

on his clay “armor.” Ho Lin and the 

chief of sculptors weren’t the only 

ones holding their breath. Four silent 

shadows behind a nearby warrior also 

held theirs. 

“Well,” said General Zhong, “Well, 

well.” He leaned back to get a better 

view. 

9

“I do believe that it is really me,” 

he smiled. 

Six breaths were carefully and 

quietly expelled. 

“This is remarkable, truly 

remarkable,” continued the general, 

touching “his” clay moustache with 

the tips of his fingers. “These warriors 

look like they are alive. First Emperor 

may well be confident that they will 

protect him in the afterlife. I never 

imagined that anything could look 

like this. My uniform is perfect. My 

moustache is more handsome than 

the real one!” and he smoothed his 

real moustache with his hand as he 

smiled contentedly. 

He looked around at the workshop 

filled with busy workers. “Which of 

the workers made me?” he inquired, 

smiling. “Who made my moustache 

so handsome?” 

Wan Hai, Chang Shen, and Mei 

Ling gently pushed Yung Fu out into 

the aisle near the general’s statue. Ho 

Lin, hearing a small shuffle behind 

him, turned around. 

“Ah, General Zhong,” he said, 

bowing again and taking Yung Fu 

by the arm at the same time. “Here 

is one of our youngest workers. He 

is the one who painted such a fine 

moustache for you that the emperor 

himself would think it was real.” 


The general turned to Yung Fu, 

who bowed so low his heard nearly 

touched his knees, and smiled again. 

“How fortunate we are that the 

kingdom of Qin has such talent, 

such power to create beauty,” he said. 

“This young painter must be given 

high honors and he must paint many 

more soldiers of our emperor’s army.” 

Taking off the bright silk scarf, he 

placed it around Yung Fu’s shoulders 

and strode away, followed by his aides 

and the chief of sculptors. 

The three detectives grabbed Yung 

Fu, who was still open mouthed with 

shock, and began to dance and skip 

around the warriors. 

“Careful, careful,” admonished Ho 

Lin. “Now is no time to knock over a 

warrior and break a head. Come, we 

have much to do.” 

There was indeed much to do. 

First, Yung Fu must be introduced 

to the chief of painters. There would 

be time for the full story to be told 

later, but for now it was enough that 

the chief of the painters agreed that 

Yung Fu had shown himself to be an 

outstanding painter and deserved the 

praise of the general. 

“You can start tomorrow. We begin 

work just after sunrise, so be on time,” 

instructed the chief painter. “You are 

expected to have your hair combed 

and be neat and clean.” 

Next was a visit to Master Jang, 

who heard the astonishing story with 

amazement. 

“I am happy for you,” he told Yung 

Fu. “I’ll miss you, though. You have 

been a good apprentice, and I thought 

you had the talent to make beautiful 

bronze vessels. But I always knew that 

somehow metal wasn’t where your 

heart was. This is a great day for you.” 

He turned to his shelves and 

picked out six small bronze threelegged 

dings, beautifully formed with 

small taotie designs on them. “These 

are for you to keep your paints in,” he 

told Yung Fu, “and to remember me 

by too.” 

“Master Jang, I could never forget 

you,” Yung Fu assured him. “You 

have always been so kind and taught 

me much.” 

Next, of course, must be a visit 

next door to the shop of Zhu the 

painter. He had already heard the 

great news from some of the village 

children, and he too had something 

for Yung Fu. 

“To work on the emperor’s army, 

you must have the finest brushes. 

Nothing else is good enough,” he said, 

handing Yung Fu a pot filled with 

brushes of all sizes. “There! You have 

brushes for the smallest eyelash and 

the largest boots and everything in 

between. You are all ready to work for 

the emperor.” 

There was a great feast at the 

house of Ho Lin that night. The 

mystery of the moustache painter had 

been solved, and Ho Lin no longer 

worried about his job (or his head). 

He hugged the three detectives and 

told them that no father had ever 

had such good children. Yung Fu just 

smiled and smiled. His dearest dream 

had come true, and he could still 

scarcely believe it. He was a painter 

now. His life would be filled with color 

and beauty, and he didn’t think there 

could be a luckier boy in the entire 

kingdom. 

Mei Ling had just one last request. 

“Yung Fu,” she asked, “Will you paint 

me a cricket cage like yours?” 

(happiness) 

Battle-ready, an army takes 

position for eternity in a flat 

roofed-vault. Artist rendering 

by Hsien-Min Yang.

Terra Cotta Warriors: 

Guardians of China’s 

First Emperor 

11

Imagine descending down a ramp 

into a dark, earthen pit. Out of 

the silence you think you hear the 

exhale of a horse. As you reach in 

that direction, you feel the form of a 

human face. Then you turn quickly 

as you think you hear the scrape of a 

sword being pulled from its case. Fear 

grips you in your uncertainty. As your 

eyes adjust to the darkness, you slowly 

perceive the outline of human forms 

– rows and rows of clay warriors, 


standing in silence, ready for battle. 

The army stretches as far as you can 

see. You are sure that you hear the 

rustle of armor, the click of metal. 

This army is one of the most 

impressive armies of all time. It has 

been battle ready for over 2200 years. 

It was created by Qin Shihuangdi 

(Qin Shihuangdi sounds like: Chin 

Shhr Hwong Dee), the First Emperor 

of the Qin dynasty, to protect him 

in the afterlife, throughout eternity. 

Chariot horses of the terra cotta army or part of its cavalry 

It remained unknown for centuries 

until it was discovered in 1974 by 

peasants digging a well for water 

about 20 miles east of the city of 

Xi’an, in central China. Since then 

three more warrior pits have been 

found nearby. One of them was 

empty, telling us that the complex 

was probably not complete when the 

emperor died. There has never been 

found such a massive artificial army 

from any other time in history. 

Today, the Museum of Qin Terra 

Cotta Warriors and Horses covers 

three acres containing three modern 

buildings. It is a unique museum 

where people come not only to see 

the warriors, but to also observe an 

archaeological dig site as scientists 

excavate the warriors from their 

burial chambers. Only a small 

fraction of the warriors have been 

excavated due to the painstaking care 

required to preserve their grandeur. 

It will take much longer to excavate 

the army than the 36 years it took to 

create it. 

The tomb of Qin Shi Huang is 

about 1/4 of a mile away from the 

warriors’ pits. What appears to be a 

hill (actually an artificial mound, or 

tumulus) in the middle of a peaceful 

corn field is the First Emperor’s burial 

mound which is about 150 feet high 

with three levels. Around the outer 

area had been a stone wall 23 feet 

thick with four corner watchtowers. 

The walls of the inner city were 1/4 

mile long on each side. The inner 

tomb remains as it was left 2200 years 

ago with Qin’s coffin in the middle. 

The pits of the warriors are east 

of the First Emperor’s tomb to protect 

him from his enemies to the east. The 

tomb is protected by the mountains to 

the south (Mt. Li) and west (Qinling 

Mountains); water to the north (Wei 

River); and to the east is the Great 

Central Plains. There are believed 

to be at least 600 pits and tombs in 

all, covering 56 square kilometers 

(22 square miles). The warrior pits 

alone cover an area of over 25,000 

square meters (29,900 square yards). 

It is believed that it took over 700,000 

workers to complete the necropolis. 

The terra cotta warriors are 

considered one of the most important 

archaeological discoveries of all time. 

They give us valuable information 

about the history of China. UNESCO 

(United Nations Educational Scientific 

and Cultural Organization) has put 

Qin Shihuangdi’s tomb on its cultural 

heritage list. The international 

organization makes sure that 

historical sites are preserved. The 

First Emperor’s tomb has not been 

excavated. Archaeologists are waiting 

until it can be dug safely without 

hurting the precious objects inside. 

The tombs reproduce the realities 

of life for aristocrats in China in 200 

BCE. Qin started building the tombs 

as soon as he became king of the state 

of Qin. Chinese leaders before him 

had built elaborate tombs with the 

belief that they could continue to rule 

forever in the afterlife, but none came 

close to the detail and magnitude of 

Qin’s. It is estimated that there were 

over 7,000 warriors, more than 600 

horses, 100 chariots, and uncountable

weapons. Each warrior is a few inches 

larger than real life. 

The warriors are arranged in 

the pits to protect the emperor from 

anyone who invades his tomb. Each 

pit lies 15 to 20 feet below current 

ground level and was constructed 

with the figures placed in corridors 

separated by earthen walls. Pit 

number 1 is the largest pit. It is 252 

yards long and 68 yards wide with 

nine corridors which are about 11’ 

4” wide. The ceilings were made 

of large tree trunks which rested 

on the partitions and outer rims. 

Ancient halberd 

They were reinforced by planks and 

wooden pillars. A layer of matting 

was placed on the planks and then 

sealed by a layer of plaster over which 

was stamped earth. All but the earth 

and plaster has disintegrated. The 

corridors are paved with pottery bricks 

on which the warriors and horses 

stand. There are five ramps on each 

end leading down to the pit. 

The warriors in Pit 1 are arranged 

in regular army formation. In the 

front are three rows of standing 

archers with crossbows so that while 

one row was firing, the others were 

reloading. These wore no armor. The 

armored infantry line the corridors 

with spears, halberds, and battle axes. 

These are led by officers on chariots 

carrying the bell and drum used 

to give orders during battle. Troops 

are defended at the sides and rear 

by archers and crossbowmen facing 

outwards. 

The positions of the bodies and 

hands of the warriors tell the type 

of weapons they used, although 

most of the original weapons were 

deteriorated. Their uniforms tell their 

army position. The 

soldiers 

wore padded 

coats fastened 

with a leather 

belt with a 

hooked buckle 

and knee length 

trousers. They 

wore flat shoes 

tied to their feet. 

The horsemen, 

in Pit 2, wore short 

tunics over tight 

pants. Armor was made in overlapping 

plates probably made of lacquered 

leather representing fish scale designs. 

The cavalrymen wore light armor, 

and they wore a cap of leather. 

Officers wore more ornate armor and 

headgear. The infantry wore boots, 

some with upturned toes. Although 

the colors on the warriors’ uniforms 

have since faded, they were very bright 

and mixed. Color did not signify rank, 

so the final effect was a dazzling array 

of a real army of individual people. 

One can almost perceive 

movement by the positions of the 

warriors and tilt of their heads. 

Not only their 

uniforms but their scarves, 

tassels, bows, accessories, and 

hairstyles tell their rank so they 

can be seen by other soldiers, and 

unfortunately also by the enemy. 

There are no female figures because 

women were not allowed in the 

Chinese army. 

The faces of the warriors are 

all different. Art historians had not 

believed that such natural features 

appeared in Chinese art until long 

after the Qin dynasty. They have 

Guard in head armor; armor made of pieces of 

limestone secured by bronze thread 

been astonished at the expressiveness 

of their faces. One feels that this 

exhibit is not about an emperor. Its 

importance lies in celebration of the 

lives of the individuals who built this 

empire. 

Not only are there warriors 

but chariots and their horses are 

positioned throughout the rows of 

warriors. There are four horses for 

each chariot. The horses’ features are 

so true to life that they appear alert 

to commands from their charioteers. 

Some of the pieces of the chariots are 

actually moveable. They were used 

in battle on inspection tours of the 

army. The horses with the chariots are 

tarpans, small horses which are now 

extinct. 

In addition to the army for 

protection, the First Emporer had 

pits created which contained many 

13

Back of head, showing hairstyle of terra cotta warrior 

other types of figures – courtiers, civil 

officials, musicians and acrobats. 

The entertainers are sculpted as if in 

mid-performance. A variety of birds 

are with the musicians as if they 

were trained to dance with the music. 

Most figures are models, but there 

were also found some small coffins 

containing the bones of birds and 

other animals. Also discovered was 

a stable containing the bones of real 

horses, with clay figures of grooms to 


keep them fresh. We can imagine the 

First Emperor being prepared for a 

great hunting trip as well as for battle. 

When Qin Shi Huang became king 

he assembled a group of artisans to 

create his tomb and underground 

army to protect him throughout 

eternity. His officials combined 

technology from other crafts to 

organize factories throughout 

the area with teams consisting of 

managers, overseers, and workmen. 

For 36 years they worked on this 

feat of mass production. The figures 

include high ranking officers, officers, 

armored and unarmored infantry, 

charioteers, cavalrymen, kneeling and 

standing archers. 

The clay for the figures must 

have come from Lishan, (Mt Li) the 

mountain at the foot of which stands 

the emperor’s tomb. It was combined 

with ground quartz. The average 

weight of the warriors is about 200 

kilos (440 pounds), and the average 

height is 1.8 meters (5.9 feet). 

Types of soldiers found in pits 

The legs and feet of each warrior 

are made of a solid base of clay to give 

the figure support. Above the legs the 

body is hollow. The torso was built 

up with coiled clay. The head, arms 

and hands were modeled separately 

and then attached to the body with 

clay coils. They were made from an 

ancient molding technique. The 

unique faces of each warrior may 

have been copied from live humans 

believed to be his actual army. The 

facial features were created using fine 

artist’s tools such as sharp bamboo. 

Eyebrows, beards, and mustaches 

were carefully crafted. Hair and hats 

were modeled by hand and added 

separately. Clothes and armor were 

also hand finished. Each warrior was 

covered with lacquer and then colored 

with paint made from minerals. 

The statues were fired at a much 

higher temperature than previous 

methods utilized, thus making it 

possible for them to survive for 2200 

years. Horses were fired in one piece 

except for their tails and forelocks. 

Bridles with stone and beads and 

bronze bits have survived. Few of the 

statues have been found intact due

Archer’s shoe showing 

details of hemp sole 

to an invasion of the tombs soon 

after he died. In addition to what was 

plundered, the roof was burned and 

fell, smashing most of the statues. 

Each statue bears an inscription 

of one of the 87 foremen in charge of 

the construction of the army. Some 

worked for state workshops run by the 

central government. Some worked 

for non-government workshops. It is 

estimated that there were about 1530 

craftsmen altogether who worked on 

the warriors. Each inscription tells 

the name of the workshop, the master 

artist, the office supervisor, and the 

year of the First Emperor’s reign that 

it was created. The inscriptions are 

found hidden on the statues, engraved 

or written with brush and black and 

red ink. 

Hundreds of bronze swords, 

halberds, daggers, and battle axes 

and thousands of arrowheads have 

been found mixed with the scattered 

pieces of the warriors. The swords 

and the tips of the arrowheads are 

still razor sharp. Some swords are 

made of an alloy of cooper, tin and 

13 other elements including nickel, 

magnesium and cobalt. They are still 

covered with a coating of oxidized 

chrome, a true marvel of technology 

for any age. Probably the most 

amazing weapon of the time was the 

crossbow which used a three-part 

mechanism. 

The tomb of the First Emperor 

is believed to be a vast underground 

palace and will most likely prove to be 

one of the greatest marvels of all time 

when it is excavated. No documents 

from the Qin dynasty survive, so 

we must must rely on a description 

written 100 years later by Sima Qian, 

the official historian of the Han 

dynasty. Of course, he had a strong 

bias so we must be careful in reading 

what he says. He relays that over 

700,000 conscripts were used to build 

the compound. Sima Qian wrote, 

“As soon as the First Emperor 

became king of Qin, excavations 

and building had been started 

at Mount Li, while after he won 

the empire, more than 700,000 

conscripts from all parts of the 

country worked there. They dug 

through three underground 

streams and put down bronze 

for the outer coffin, and the tomb 

was filled with models of palaces, 

pavilions and offices as well as 

fine vessels, precious stones and 

rarities. Craftsmen were ordered 

to fix up crossbows so that any 

thief breaking in would be shot. 

All the country’s streams, the 

Yellow River and the Yangtze were 

reproduced in mercury and by 

some mechanical means made to 

flow into a miniature ocean. The 

heavenly constellations were above 

and the regions of the earth below. 

The candles were made of man-fish 

oil to ensure them burning for the 

longest possible time.” 

It is believed that the emperor’s 

burial chamber itself is 30-40 meters 

A bundle of bronze arrows found at the site of the terra cotta warriors in Xi’an, China. 

The bronze arrow tips survived, while the wooden shafts have disentigrated. 

(32.8 yards-43.7 yards) below the 

original ground level. Soil tests 

reveal high levels of mercury, so 

archaeologists are delaying excavation 

of the site until methods are developed 

to preserve what will be found there. 

For generations to come new and 

exciting discoveries will be made in 

the tomb complex. 

15

History 

of China 

Lead weight for measuring 

bags of grain 


Is it any wonder that the First 

Emporer conquered and united 

much of China after seeing such 

an impressive army? When Ying 

Zheng (the First Emperor’s birth 

name), ascended to the throne upon 

the death of his father in 246 BCE, he 

was only 13 years old. It is thought 

construction of the warriors was 

begun after he united China in 221. 

The previous Eastern Zhou Period 

laid the groundwork for the First 

Emperor to unify China. Due to the 

constant fighting during the Warring 

States Period, military, economic, 

social and political systems 

were created which gave 

him power and control to 

defeat the other states. 

In 230 BCE Ying 

Zheng began 

accomplishing 

his dream 

of unifying 

and 

bringing 

under his 

control 

all the 

Warring 

States – 

Han, Zhao, 

Wei, Chu, Yan 

and Qi. By 221 BCE he 

had succeeded in creating the first 

centralized empire in Chinese history 

and declared himself Qin Shihuangdi 

– the First Emperor of the Qin. He 

had united lands from the Gobi Desert 

to Vietnam to the Yellow Sea. It is 

said that Qin Shi Huang conquered 

China, “like a silkworm devouring 

a mulberry leaf.” The Period of the 

Warring States was over, yet he had 

to keep his army battle ready in order 

to deter rebellions by his conquered 

subjects and to protect his newly 

created empire from continued 

invasions from the north. 

In the period before Qin, the 

concept of the Mandate of Heaven 

developed. This meant that the ruler 

was given authority by Heaven and 

that if he ruled well, he would remain 

in power. The First Emperor believed 

he had received this power to rule the 

entire world. He created the concept of 

“emperor” and all subsequent rulers 

of China had that title. A dynasty is 

a succession of rulers who all came 

from the same family. Although the 

Qin dynasty lasted only 15 years, until 

the death of the First Emperor’s son in 

206 BCE, it set into motion much of 

the groundwork that would maintain 

China as a leading power throughout 

world history. Some of his most long 

lasting accomplishments include: 

• Unified the seven Warring States 

ending centuries of war 

• Did away with much corruption 

by abolishing the inheritance 

Bronze ban liang coin 

of titles and offices and 

creating a strict hierarchy 

based on merit and 

achievement 

• Built a 4,700 mile network of 

roads throughout the empire with 

regular stops to provide a place to 

sleep 

• Linked and added to the great 

wall of China in order to protect 

his citizens from barbarian 

nomadic attacks 

• Built a canal system for irrigation 

and transportation 

• Established a single width for 

cart axles so goods could be 

transported easily from province 

to province 

• Standardized weights and 

measures making trade more 

uniform 

• Created a single currency 

• Combined the Chinese characters 

in writing which helped promote 

cultural unity 

• Pioneered the use of mass 

production and interchangeable 

parts (for the production of 

weapons and agricultural 

implements) 

• Codified the legal system by 

making all laws the same in all 

parts of the empire, and although 

harsh, was consistently applied 

The First Emperor is well known 

in Chinese history for his amazing 

advancements yet he is also known for 

his ruthlessness towards his people. As 

he conquered the adjoining Warring 

States, he forced the leading families 

to move to his capital at Xianyang, 

so he could keep them under the 

watchful eye of his bureaucracy. He 

rebuilt their palaces in Xianyang. 

The First Emperor chose his own 

assistants to go to their kingdoms 

to be the governors and judges. He 

set up a system of 36 commanderies 

with governors and other officials 

appointed by the capital. By doing 

so he did away with a fragmented 

country and established a central 

government. 

The Chinese philosopher, 

Confucius, lived not long before the 

Qin dynasty. Confucianism stresses 

social harmony, justice, and devotion 

to family ancestors. Change meant 

going against one’s ancestors. The 

First Emperor felt that the teachings 

of Confucius conflicted with his 

progressive programs and laws. He 

burned any writings that did not have 

to do with agriculture and what he 

considered necessary occupations.

Imperial capital 

Artist’s rendering by 

Hsien-Min Yang 

The First Emporer had one of each 

book retained in a library which was 

burned by his enemies after his death. 

Much of the teachings of Confucius 

had to be rewritten from the memory 

of his followers. 

The First Emperor was influenced 

by the Legalist writings of Han Feizi 

who wrote that people are selfish and 

rulers should reward their subjects for 

loyalty and severely punish disloyalty. 

The First Emperor established an 

absolute right of command. This 

meant that the ruler had complete 

power over the people who had 

no rights. This was exercised by 

establishing “responsibility groups”; 

households were organized into 

groups which were obligated to inform 

authorities if anyone failed to carry 

out their assigned duties or broke the 

law. People who turned in lawbreakers 

were rewarded; people who did not 

turn in lawbreakers were executed. 

This tradition of absolute power 

remained a principle of government 

in China to modern times. 

To carry out the First Emperor’s 

grand projects required huge numbers 

of laborers. Men who would have 

normally worked in the fields raising 

food were conscripted into the army 

for a year or more and then to work 

in the emperor’s service for another 

year. They were forced to work on 

the building projects such as the 

roads, canals, palaces, his tomb and 

the great wall. Thousands of people 

died carrying out his commands. 

Shortages of farmers led to food 

shortages which led to rebellions 

against the emperor. Embittered 

subjects from farmers to aristocrats 

and intellectuals hated him for his 

oppressions and heavy taxation. 

Several assassination attempts against 

him led the First Emperor to build 

secret passageways throughout his 

great palace. When going out in the 

evening, he went in disguise. And 

every night he slept in a different 

location. 

The First Emperor toured his 

conquered states to establish his 

legitimacy and impress his subjects, 

but also to find magicians who 

could promise him eternal life. 

Unfortunately one of their solutions 

contained mercury. It is believed he 

died from mercury poisoning while 

on one of his tours. 

When he died in 210 BCE, the 

peasants rebelled against Hu Hai, 

the emperor’s successor, who was a 

less powerful ruler. They destroyed 

the First Emperor’s great palaces and 

buildings, yet the tombs survived. Out 

of the chaos emerged the Han dynasty. 

A sunflower surrounded by clouds is featured on the roof tile that once 

decorated the First Emporer’s palace. The tile was excavated in 1995 

when a road-widening project next to the tomb revealed the palace. 

17


Daily Life 

in Ancient 

China 

Details of warriors and 

horses found in the tomb 

In ancient China there were 

two classes of people, the upper 

class and the lower class, and a 

hierarchy existed within each. 

The upper class consisted of the 

emperor and his family, government 

officials, scholars who were not 

rich but were respected for their 

knowledge, and the land-owning 

gentry who had land they could rent 

to others. Those in the upper class 

lived in wooden houses with a tiled 

roof. The emperor was the wealthiest 

of the upper class, and the rich 

ate well and wore silk. The skill of 

making silk was a secret kept by the 

Chinese for centuries. Both men and 

women wore robes with sashes and 

wealthy women wore silk slippers. 

The lower class consisted of 

soldiers, merchants, and peasants. 

Although generals were respected, 

soldiers were in the lower class 

because they were sent to fight and 

die. Merchants were looked down on 

because they sold things others had 

made. The peasants usually worked 

the gentry’s land and remained in 

poverty due to high taxes. The lower 

class lived in houses made of mud 

and straw. 

Few of the poor could read or 

write. They did not own their own 

land, and some families were so poor 

they sold their daughters to the rich 

as servants. Farmers did not keep the 

majority of their crops; the crops were 

used to feed others. The men wore 

baggy pants and a cotton shirt. All 

shoes were made of straw. The poor 

people’s diet included wheat noodles, 

rice, steamed bread or bean curd. 

Meat was rare. Workers performed 

most jobs by hand, spending long 

hours doing manual labor. 

The First Emperor forced his 

subjects into occupations which he 

chose. He felt the only productive 

occupations were agriculture and 

the military. A few individuals were 

needed as bureaucrats to carry out 

the management of these people. He 

felt that all other occupations such as 

merchants and intellectuals had no 

value in society. Qin did not believe 

in education for the common man 

because it would take time away from 

farming. If workers were too slow or 

tried to do something different, they 

were put to work on the great wall. 

19

Traditional 

Values 

Workers use tools 

to uncover shards 


Family was very important to the 

Chinese. If a family could afford 

it, as many as 100 relatives would 

live in one household. Most 

common people could not afford to 

live this way, but common households 

included grandparents. 

Sons were considered to be more 

valuable than daughters because 

they could carry on the family name. 

Men were expected to work and 

women were expected to keep house 

and raise children. Children were 

expected to obey their parents, and it 

was not against the law to kill a child 

who disobeyed. Most marriages were 

arranged when children were born, 

and often the bride and groom did not 

meet until their wedding day. 

Modern Way 

of Life 

Although the Qin dynasty lasted 

only 15 years, the influence 

of the First Emperor has 

continued to this day. When 

Mao Zedong brought communism 

to China and created the People’s 

Republic of China in 1949, he praised 

the First Emperor for his foresight 

and ability to carry out programs that 

benefited the people of China. Time 

has softened the view of his cruelty, 

and his determination continues to be 

admired by the people of China. 

Because of Western influences, 

modern China has changed. The 

people dress like westerners and 

modern high rises and apartments 

can be seen everywhere. Both males 

and females work outside the home. 

Families live in smaller groups, 

generally adding grandparents who 

watch after the home and children 

who are not yet attending school. 

Children are still expected to be 

respectful, to obey and to uphold 

family honor. Marriage is more likely 

decided by the couple, but they include 

their parents in the decision. 

Rural families tend to hang on to 

traditional values, still living in mud 

and straw houses, still valuing a male 

child over a female, and continuing to 

arrange marriages.

An archer lies in partly 

excavated section of Pit 2 

21

Student 

and Class 

Activities 

Terra Cotta 

Warriors: 

Guardians of 

China’s First 

Emperor 


1. Practice the pronunciation of 

the Chinese name for the First 

Emperor: 

Qin Shihuangdi sounds like: 

Chin Shhr Hwong Dee 

Practice writing Qin Shihuangdi’s 

name in Chinese: 

2. Class Discussion on 

Ancient China 

Create a class KWL chart about 

ancient China. On a KWL 

chart, students write in the 

first column what they already 

Know about a topic. In the 

middle column students write 

what they Want to know about 

a topic. In the last column, after 

exposure to a topic, they write 

what they Learned. What they 

learned can line up to answer 

what they want to know or not. 

K(now) W(ant to Know) L(earned)

As students discuss their KWL, 

write a list on the board of the topics 

or categories they bring up such 

as technology, wildlife, resources, 

music, architecture, food, military, 

occupations, art, government power, 

etc. For example if a student says, 

“pandas come from China,” write the 

word, wildlife. 

Tell the students that they will 

see pictures and artifacts at the 

Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians 

of China’s First Emperor exhibition 

relating to all these topics. Discuss the 

meaning of the words you used. When 

needed, show a picture to illustrate. 

Create a chart such as the one to 

the right and fill in the topics you 

want the students to look for in the 

exhibit. Tell them they will write the 

name of the artifact and what it tells 

us about life during the time of the 

First Emperor. 

Have the students share their 

observations about life in ancient 

China using the information they 

collected on their charts. Discuss what 

they could NOT tell from the objects 

in the exhibit. Have them write a story 

about one of the people in the list 

below: 

Emperor Palace cook 

Laborer Warrior 

Official Musician 

Palace guard Peasant farmer 

Acrobat 

Topics Artifact Information 

Technology 

Wildlife 

Resources 

Music 

Architecture 

Food 

Military 

Occupations 

Art 

Government 

Power 

Other: 

3. Class Film Screenings 

Mulan. Takes place in the time 

period following the Qin dynasty. 

(Walt Disney Studios, 1998.) 

Hero. (Directed by Zhang 

Yimou, Beijing New Picture Film 

Company Edko Films/Elite Films, 

2002.) 

The First Emperor: The 

Man Who Made China 

(documentary). (Directed 

by Nic Young, Discovery 

Communications/Lion 

Television, 2006.) 

The Emperor and the Assassin. 

(Directed by Chen Kaige, 

Beijing Film Studio/Canal 

Plus/China Film Co-Production 

Corporation/NDF International/ 

New Wave Company/ 

Prizel/ShinCine, 1999.) 

23

4. Comparing Ancient China, 

Modern China and Life as a 

Chinese American 

The students can read and 

compare three books about life in 

ancient China, life in China today, 

and life as a Chinese American. This 

can be a class or individual activity. 

Students may use this activity to 

practice their reading aloud skills. 

As they read, ask the students to 

look for comparisons such as: 

1. What conclusions did the author 

reach about life for each time and 

place? 

2. How are the lives of the characters 

in the stories alike or different? 

3. How are the lives of the characters 

in the stories alike or different 

from your own? 

4. What questions would you like to 

ask a character? 

5. What do you think a character 

would find strange about your 

life? 

6. Create a postcard a character 

might send you. What would be 

on the front of the card? What 

would the message be? Create 

a postcard you might send the 

character. 

7. Create a chart comparing the 

lives of a character from ancient 

China, a character from modern 

China, a Chinese American, and 

yourself. 


Book and Character Responsibilities Family life Education Leisure Time Comments 

5. Observation Skills 

The TCW exhibit is a great place 

for students to practice their skill of 

observation. After their visit, students 

may write about what they observed. It 

is helpful to gather words while at the 

exhibition that they can use in their 

writings. 

Before coming to the exhibit, they 

will make a class list of things to 

look for such as qualities, properties, 

values, and descriptive words. To 

prepare, place the students in small 

groups. Give each group two objects 

that are similar such as two different 

dolls, different objects, or different 

pictures. Tell the class that they are 

to see which group can find the 

most features or descriptive words to 

compare about the two objects. They 

must work quietly so that other groups 

do not steal their ideas. 

After about five minutes, find 

which group has the most items to 

compare by asking one group to read 

its list, and the other groups mark 

off anything they name that is on 

their list. Then the next group tells 

the class the items on their list that 

were not already named by the first 

group. There will be class discussion 

generated about what items are 

the same or too similar to rename. 

Continue this through all the groups. 

Determine which group had 

the most items to compare. If one 

group has many more properties to 

compare, discuss how they created 

their list. If many properties to 

compare are left out by all the groups, 

prompt the class to add more by 

saying such things as: How do they 

feel? Are they pretty? How valuable are 

they? What are they used for? If time 

allows, blindfold one student and see 

if he/she comes up with any other 

ideas by touching the objects. As they 

are sharing their lists, create a class 

list on the board or overhead projector. 

Remember to look for color, 

shape, texture, size, patterns, to use 

all of their senses, and to use words 

describing emotions. 

The day of the trip to see the 

exhibt, remind the students of these 

things to observe, so that they see 

more details. Remind them to use all 

of their senses. 

6. Writing Activity 

During your tour of the exhibition, 

chose one aspect of the exhibit that 

you enjoyed the most. After your visit 

to the museum, write a persuasive 

letter to a friend to convince him/her 

to come see Terra Cotta Warriors: 

Guardians of China’s First Emperor. 

Remember to use your observation 

techniques to generate descriptive 

language in order to make your letter 

more convincing.

Detail of warrior, framed by 

warriors in foreground 

Your letter should contain the 

following parts: 

1. An introduction that engages the 

reader and states the purpose of 

the letter. 

2. Facts that back up your opinion. 

Use descriptive adjectives and 

action words that will help the 

reader “see” the exhibit. 

3. A conclusion which summarizes 

your purpose and details. 

7. World Communities 

Before coming to see Terra Cotta 


First Emperor, brainstorm and 

discuss human needs (food, water, 

shelter, safety, etc.) with the class. 

Relate these needs to jobs in your 

community, such as a grocery store 

and restaurant provide food. 

Discuss why people have jobs. 

Discuss a variety of jobs and how they 

meet the community’s needs. Discuss 

what students will see on the ride to 

the museum. Remind the students 

that they will see some landforms 

(rivers, fields, hills, etc.), and some 

things that are man-made (buildings, 

bridges, trucks, farms, etc.) 

On the trip to the museum, the 

students will observe their community 

and find ways the community helps 

people meet their needs. The teacher 

can use clip art to create an activity 

where the students mark pictures they 

see of community resources along 

the way. 

At the exhibit, have the students 

look for examples of ways that 

community needs were met in ancient 

China. For example, when they see 

the chariots, they may observe that 

horses and chariots were used for 

transportation. 

A chart may be created ahead of 

time with community needs listed. 

The students can fill in the chart in 

the exhibit of objects they see and 

how they meet those needs. Students 

may also draw pictures of objects if 

preferred. 

After their visit to the exhibit, 

discuss with the students how the 

needs of a community were the same 

during the time of ancient China. 

Compare how these needs are met 

today. 

8. Natural Resources 

Since the terra cotta warriors were 

created 2,200 years ago, most of 

the materials used at that time 

have disintegrated. Only very strong 

artifacts made of such materials as 

stone, clay, and metal have survived. 

We do not have clothing or items 

made of wood or plants, because 

they break down chemically and 

disappear. Many natural resources 

do still remain. From those we can 

infer what other materials were used 

at that time. For example, in the terra 

cotta warrior pits, we think that wood 

beams were placed above the rows of 

warriors because of the indentations 

in the clay walls left by the wood. 

What are natural resources? 

They are materials that are made 

by nature. They are not man-made. 

Some examples are plants, minerals, 

water, petroleum, and rocks. The 

products that people create depend 

on the natural resources available in 

the area. 

As a homework assignment, 

have the students make a list of the 

materials used to construct their 

houses. Discuss the lists before 

coming to the exhibit. Which 

resources do they expect to find used 

in ancient China? Which do they NOT 

expect to find? Why? 

At the exhibit, students will see 

many materials used at the time 

of the Qin Dynasty. They will see a 

model of the First Emperor’s palace. 

Have the students look for natural 

resources and observe how they are 

used. After the visit to the exhibit, they 

will discuss natural resources. 

The following terms are used to 

describe artifacts in the exhibit. Some 

of them are defined in the Glossary: 

inlaid, inscribed, relic, height, 

circumference, diameter, length, 

width, thickness, cast in relief, 

excavated, inscription, edict, 

25

decree, plaque, scale weight, 

mold, ceremonial, percussion, 

gilding, dagger, mechanism, 

helmet, armor, fragment, torso, 

archaeology, site, pigment, 

archer, civilian, infantry, acrobat, 

official, general 

The following materials are 

represented in the exhibit. Tell the 

students to look for artifacts made 

from each resource and list it next to 

each. 

bronze 

clay – terra cotta 

jade 

wood 

gold 

turquoise 

gilt bronze with shell inlay 

bronze inlaid with silver and gold 

limestone 

bamboo 

iron 

stone 

The following weapons are found 

in the exhibit: 

spear, lance, sword, arrow, 

crossbow, halberd, dagger, axe 

Natural Resources Post Activity: 

After their visit to the exhibit, 

refer to the list of artifacts filled in at 

the exhibit on their list of resources. 

Discuss the resources and their uses. 

Discuss how these same objects are 

made today. Discuss the use of plastic 


to make many products. What are 

plastics made of? 

Research the history of jade. See 

bibliography. 

9. Chinese Calligraphy 

While at the Terra Cotta Warriors: 

Guardians of China’s First Emperor 

exhibit, students may observe and 

practice Chinese calligraphy. Discuss 

with the students that Chinese 

characters are very different from 

the phonetic English language. 

Each Chinese character represents 

a syllable and also has a meaning. 

Chinese characters are made with 

brush strokes and look like drawings. 

See sample below. 

The symbols originally were 

pictures of people, animals, and other 

things but over the centuries these are 

no longer recognizable. 

Although there are about 80,000 

characters, only about 3,500 are 

commonly used. Each character 

takes the same amount of space no 

matter how complicated it is. There 

are no spaces between the characters 

so the reader has to figure out which 

syllables go together. 

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/ 

chinese_evolution.htm 

10. What is Art? 

Class Discussion: What is art? “Art” 

is a very difficult word to define, and 

everyone can have their own opinion 

of what they think it means. Does art 

have more to do with the actual item, 

the intention of its creation, or the 

ability of the creator? Try to come to 

a class consensus of what is art. Then 

create a class consensus of how the art 

in the exhibit can be critiqued. 

The exhibit presents a good 

opportunity to think about the 

differences between art and 

something that is just utilitarian. 

During their visit to the museum, 

ask the students to think about their 

definition of art and whether the 

artifacts are art or not. Since the 

warriors were created for something 

rather than an aesthetic purpose, 

are they art? Note the beauty of the 

warriors and their design. After the 

class visits the exhibition, show the 

class their answers to “What is Art?” 

and ask if they still feel the same way 

they did before the visit. Have their 

opinions changed? How is the culture 

of ancient China represented in the 

artifacts found in the pits and tomb? 

Have the students imagine that 

they are creating a set of items they 

wish to accompany them in the 

afterlife. List the items and tell why. 

If their items were found 2,000 years 

from now, would people consider their 

artifacts art? 

The exhibit reflects art at the 

time of the Qin Dynasty. Show the 

students several samples of modern 

art. (A pre-activity can be for students 

to bring a picture from home of a 

piece of modern art to be used in this 

discussion, or the art teacher can be 

involved in the selection of artwork.) 

Just as the terra cotta warriors told us 

much about life during the time of 

the Qin Dynasty, what does modern 

art tell us about life today? 

The warriors were created 

to “protect” the First Emperor 

throughout eternity. Give each student 

a ball of clay. Have them create their 

own personal protector. Write and 

discuss their choice of protector. Is it 

an animal? A specific person? Do they 

consider their statue a work of art? 

Why or why not? 

As an extension, students may 

research and share the definition of 

art with the class. They will find many 

definitions. Encourage them to choose 

their favorite and tell why. 

11. Chinese Symbolism 

The Chinese use various animal-like 

symbols in much of their art and 

decorations. These symbols represent 

virtues and wishes of good fortune. 

For instance, a dragon is an example 

of a symbol believed to ward off 

evil spirits and lightening. Cranes 

symbolize longevity, a long life. 

Much symbolism was used in 

artwork in ancient China as well as 

today. Before coming to the exhibit, 

have the students research Chinese 

symbolism and then look for these 

symbols in the exhibit. 

At the exhibit the students will 

see examples of decorated roof tiles 

with Chinese symbols. The Chinese 

believed that the roof of a building 

was a landing platform where spirits 

connected with the human world. 

The roof slanted upwards in order 

to send evil spirits back to heaven. 

Roof decorations were utilized to help 

communicate with the spirits in order 

to attract good fortune, blessings and 

protection. 

Activity: 

Have the students research Chinese 

symbolism and create a drawing or 

clay model of their own roof tile to use 

to protect their own home. 

12. Preserving Artifacts 

Class discussion: While at the 

museum, the students were asked

to consider how artifacts could 

deteriorate. Ask the students to list 

some items in their home that came 

from their grandparents. How are 

these items treated? (Hopefully with 

respect so they do not get damaged.) 

Discuss why families want to preserve 

their heritage. Have students list some 

items they own that they hope to some 

day show to their grandchildren. What 

will they do to be sure these items are 

kept safe? 

Discuss with the class why artifacts 

should be conserved. 

Artifacts in a museum are 

conserved for the “world family.” They 

tell about our collective past. 

Some techniques to preserve 

museum artifacts include: 

• Handle the objects very carefully 

• Keep the artifacts clean by 

removing dust, dirt, mold and 

other harmful matter that may 

contribute to deterioration 

• Do not use harmful chemicals on 

or near the artifacts 

• Keep artifacts in a display case 

which reduces the amount of dust 

etc. that can come into contact 

with the artifacts 

• Keep the light low since some 

forms of light cause damage 

• Do not allow pictures to be taken 

with flash cameras 

• Photocopy documents 

• Keep the temperature cool 

• Look at the artifact regularly 

to check for signs the artifact 

is deteriorating so it can be 

stopped or slowed down. Signs of 

deterioration are fading colors, 

parts loose or missing, and insect 

infestation 

After visiting Terra Cotta 


First Emperor, discuss which items 

seem to be better preserved than 

others (such as items made from 

rocks and more sturdy resources). 

13. Legalism vs. Confucianism 

Although his systems, standardizing 

writing and weights and measures, 

proved quite beneficial in unifying 

his new empire, standardization 

was disastrous for philosophical 

ideas. The First Emperor outlawed 

all schools of thought other than 

the officially sanctioned Legalism. 

This philosophy assumes that people 

are selfish and anti-social, and that 

the state is always more important 

than the individual. People must 

be harshly punished or rewarded 

to behave correctly in a way that 

would benefit the state and its ruler. 

This was a departure from the most 

popular school of thought at the time, 

Confucianism, which states that the 

strength of a government ultimately 

is based on the support of the people 

and virtuous conduct of the ruler. It 

emphasizes human goodness and 

social nature, as well as the right to 

rebel against those who stand in its 

way, such as unjust rulers. 

The following points can be 

covered on a chart, in a comparative 

essay, or in a class discussion: 

• What are the core ideas of each 

philosophy? 

• What are the major points of 

difference in each? 

• Are there any similarities between 

the two? 

• Find at least one Chinese dynasty 

or ruler that employed each 

school of thought. How were they 

beneficial/detrimental to their 

respective societies? 

14. Map Activity 

Use an outline map of China to 

identify the following geographical 

features and locations: 

Cities 

• Xi’an 

The Museum of the Terra Cotta 

Warriors and Horses is about 36 

kilometers (22 miles) east of 

Xi’an. 

• Beijing 

• Tianjin 

• Nanjing 

• Shanghai 

• Guangzhou 

• Chongqing 

• Hong Kong 

Rivers 

• Yellow River 

• Yangtze River 

• Pearl River 

Bordering Countries 

• Afghanistan 

• Bhutan 

• Burma 

• India 

• Kazakhstan 

• North Korea 

• Kyrgyzstan 

• Laos 

• Mongolia 

• Nepal 

• Pakistan 

• Russia 

• Tajikistan 

• Vietnam 

Bodies of Water 

• East China Sea 

• Korea Bay 

• Yellow Sea 

• South China Sea 

• Pacific Ocean 

• Philippine Sea 

Provinces 

• Anhui 

• Fujian 

• Gansu 

• Guangdong 

• Guizhou 

• Hainan 

• Hebei 

• Heilongjiang 

• Henan 

• Hubei 

Locate the Three Gorges in this 

province. It is southeast of Xi’an. 

• Hunan 

• Jiangsu 

• Jiangxi 

• Jilin 

• Liaoning 

• Qinghai 

• Shaanxi 

• Shandong 

• Shanxi 

• Sichuan 

• Yunnan 

• Zhejiang 

15. Great Wall 

There is much visible evidence of the 

influence of the First Emperor on the 

history of China. Besides the terra 

cotta warriors, one can visit the Great 

Wall, one of the largest man-made 

structures of all time. Parts of the wall 

were initially begun before the time 

of the Qin dynasty in order to keep 

out invading nomads from the north. 

Even though the emperor did not 

start the building of these walls, he 

contributed a great deal by unifying 

and expanding them. 

The First Emperor conscripted 

labor for the job of expanding the wall 

and many of these laborers died while 

working on the project. It is rumored 

that these bodies were buried in the 

27


Bell used to sound 

retreat for troops 

wall; this is why it is called the longest 

cemetery in the world. 

During the First Emperor’s time, 

the walls were reinforced with earth, 

wood, and stone. Later during the 

Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 CE), the 

use of bricks, tile, and 

limestone made the 

building of the wall 

move at a faster pace. 

Although the 

Great Wall has been 

a UNESCO World 

Heritage Site since 

1987, much of it 

is in disrepair. 

In some areas, 

nearby villagers 

have taken 

parts of the 

brick wall to 

build their 

homes, 

while in 

other 

areas the 

wall is 

crumbling and is not safe for touring. 

In Beijing the most well-preserved 

parts of the wall are visited by about 

four million visitors each year. The 

Great Wall today is more than 4,000 

miles long. 

Activities: 

Individually, or in groups, 

research different areas of the Great 

Wall listed below: 

• Great Wall in Liaoning 

• Great Wall in Hebei 

• Great Wall in Beijing 

• Great Wall in Tianjin 

• Great Wall in Shanxi 

• Great Wall in Inner Mongolia 

• Great Wall in Ningxia 

• Great Wall in Shaanxi 

• Great Wall in Gansu 

Create a visual aide and give 

a presentation summarizing 

your section of the wall. Include 

information such as: 

• Where your portion is located 

• When it was built 

• What materials were used 

• A brief history of the dynasty 

responsible for that section 

Conduct research on the Great 

Wall and write a persuasive essay 

arguing whether the Great Wall 

should be preserved or whether it is 

not worth saving. Use the website 

listed in the Resource Guide. 

16. Math/Geography Activity 

If the Great Wall were moved from 

China to North America, how far 

would it reach? On a map of North 

America, show the distance of 4,000 

miles. It does not have to go in a 

straight line. The wall could go 

from ________(name a city) to 

__________(name a city). You 

may list many cities along the route. 

Research the border between the 

U.S. and Mexico. Compare its use, 

composition, and problems to that of 

the Great Wall of China. 

17. Entertainment 

The First Emperor wanted to be 

sure he was protected in the afterlife 

which is why he created his terra 

cotta warriors. He also wanted to 

be entertained. Based on recent 

archaeological discoveries of acrobats 

and strongmen, we believe that the 

emperor was entertained by a circus, 

as well as musicians, and water birds. 

We already knew about his ability 

to conquer and protect, now we are 

beginning to learn that there is more 

to him than warfare. 

Archaeologists who discovered the 

11 acrobats and strongmen claim that 

these performers appear to look like 

those in the modern day Shanghai 

Circus. Historians had believed that 

the idea for acrobatics did not evolve 

until the Han dynasty, however this 

new discovery disproves that theory. 

Acrobatics have a long and rich 

history in ancient China. It is even 

said that Confucius’s father was a 

strongman. 

When the First Emperor was 

not being entertained by his circus 

performers, he enjoyed the music 

of a string orchestra. When these 

musicians played, the water birds 

would dance around a stream. The 

emperor had 15 terra cotta musicians 

and 46 bronze water birds placed in 

his tomb. 

During the Qin Dynasty, the 

Imperial Music Bureau was founded. 

The bureau was responsible for 

supervising court and military music. 

The Music Bureau decided which folk 

music would be officially recognized. 

This was a very important task 

because the First Emperor believed 

that this music would keep harmony 

and longevity within his state. The 

placement of the string orchestra in 

the First Emperor’s tomb emphasizes 

the importance of music. 

Activities: 

Class discussion: List the types of 

circuses the students have seen. Visit 

the three websites below, and create a 

chart listing items the students might 

see in the Shanghai Circus, Ringling 

Brothers and Barnum Bailey Circus, 

and Cirque Du Soleil. How are these 

circuses different? How are they the 

same? Observe that this form of 

entertainment has remained similar 

for over 2,000 years. 

http://acrobatsofchina.com/en/ 

history.htm 

http://www.ringling.com/ 

http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/

cirquedusoleil/default.htm 

Music 

Conduct a class discussion or write an 

essay to express individual ideas about 

music: 

• Do you feel that music is an 

important part of daily life? 

• What would our lives be like today 

if we did not have music? 

• Would you be upset if you were 

forced to listen to only one kind 

of music which a Music Bureau 

chose? 

• Why do you think the First 

Emperor wanted to control what 

music was officially recognized by 

the palace? 

• Do you think officially 

recognizing one type of music 

would limit different styles of 

music? Why? 

18. Responsible Research 

Class Discussion: The First Emperor’s 

tombs have contributed invaluable 

information about how the Chinese 

people lived long ago. The artifacts 

tell us much about their culture such 

as their work, beliefs, entertainment 

and daily lives. Yet the First Emperor 

did not allow people to create artwork, 

so there are not pictures of him that 

we can use to tell what he looked like. 

People were not allowed to write about 

his life or his activities. He did not 

allow common people to learn to read 

and write. 

Why do you think these 

informative activities were not 

allowed? How did this enforce his 

desire to control his subjects? 

About 100 years after the First 

Emperor died, a man named Sima 

Qian wrote a history book called 

Shi Ji, also called the Records of the 

Grand Historian of China. Sima 

Qian was a palace official at the court 

of Han. His writing about the First 

Emperor is very negative, which is a 

sign that he may have been writing to 

serve another purpose than preserving 

history. The Han Dynasty took control 

of China away from the Qin Dynasty 

so the book may have been written in 

order to assert their right to rule. It is 

also possible that some of what was 

written about the First Emperor was 

secretly written to criticize the Han 

Dynasty and Emperor Wudi. 

Many books and articles are 

written as if they are true, but in 

reality they are devised to serve 

another purpose rather than being 

informative. With the availability of 

the internet and its valuable research 

use, it is imperative that students 

learn how to evaluate all that they 

see, hear, and read. Studying the First 

Emperor presents an opportunity to 

discuss the importance of education 

and how and why information 

is presented. Conduct Internet 

Evaluation activities as the students 

use the internet to do research. 

Evaluation activities can be found on 

the internet. 

19. Math Activities 

Pit I is estimated to contain 7,000 

warriors known as the Right Army. 

The pit is five meters deep. It measures 

230 meters east to west and 62 meters 

north to south. Convert meters to 

yards. Compare the size of the pit to 

a football field. Draw a scale model 

of the pit and a football field side by 

side. Decide what scale to use and how 

much detail you want to show. For 

example, the pit is divided into nine 

columns going east to west. How is a 

football field divided? You could also 

show how the warriors in the pit are 

arranged and how the players might 

be arranged on the football field. 

In creating the warriors, foremen 

supervised teams of subordinates. 

So far the names of 87 foremen have 

been found. It is assumed that about 

a dozen workers served under one 

foreman. How many people does this 

show worked on the warriors? Work 

on the army pits went on for at least 

12 years. Seven thousand warriors 

were produced. How many warriors 

could each team (foreman and 

subordinates) produce in one year? 

Below is a timeline marked 

in one hundred year increments. 

More information can be added if 

it is created vertically or using the 

landscape layout. 

Directions: Use the timeline below 

and fill in the information listed. 

• Mark 300 BCE at the left end of 

the time line 

• Mark 2100 at the right end of the 

line 

• Find the point that would be 0 

and mark it. Discuss the meaning 

of this point. What does it 

indicate? 

• The First Emperor, Qin Shi 

Huang, was born in 259 BCE. 

Mark this date. 

• Mark today’s date. (What year is 

it?) 

• If a generation is considered 

to be thirty years, how many 

generations have lived since Qin 

Shi Huang’s birth? 

• You may mark events in China 

on the top of the time line and 

worldwide events on the bottom 

of the timeline. You may include 

events that are important to you 

such as your own birth. 

• What observations can you make 

by creating this timeline? For 

example, was Columbus’s trip to 

the Americas closer to the time of 

Qin dynasty or to today? 

29

Pronunciation 

Guide To 

Chinese Sounds 


Chinese names and places are 

Romanized (written in the 

Roman alphabet) according to 

the pinyin system, the standard 

Consonants 

C ts 

Q ch 

X sh 

Z dz 

Zh j 

C Q 

Cong tsong Qi chee 

Cizhou Tsi-jo Qin dynasty Chin dynasty 

Qing dynasty Ching dynasty 

X Z 

Xi’an Shee-an Zeng Dzung 

ZH 

Zhou Jo 

Zhang Jang 

Vowels 

a a, as in Alice 

e u, as in sung 

i ir, after certain consonants (shi, chi, zi, zhi) 

Ee, after others (di, zi, bi) 

ian yen 

ou o, as in toe 

u oo 

ua wa 

ui way 

form used throughout China to write 

Chinese in English. (Please note that 

Taiwan still uses the older Wade-Giles 

system.) 

Speak 

Chinese 

Hello! 

Ni hao! (Nee haow) 

How are you? 

Ni hao ma? (Nee haow ma?) 

I am (insert your name) 

Wo shi . . . (for girls) 

Wo shir . . . (for boys) 

I like you 

Wo xihuan ni 

(Wo shee-hwang nee) 

She/He is Chinese 

Ta shi Zhongguoren 

(Ta shir Jong-gwo-rin) 

I am not Chinese 

Wo bu shi Zhongguoren 

(Wo boo shir Jong-gwo-rin) 

I am American 

Wo shi Meiguoren 

(Wo shir May-gwo-rin) 

I want to go to China 

Wo yao qu Zhongguo 

(Wo yaow choo Jong-gwo) 

I like Chinese art 

Wo xihuan Zhongguo meishu 

(Wo shee-hwang jong-gwo may-shoo)

Glossary 

Bi – a disc form usually made of 

jade, from the Neolithic period 

onwards as a ritual object used in 

burials. The significance of the 

form is not entirely clear, though 

its round form may symbolize 

heaven. 

Buddhism – a religion based on 

the teachings of the Buddha, the 

“Enlightened One,” who lived in 

northern India in the 6th century 

BC. He taught that suffering is 

caused by attachment or clinging, 

and advocated living a life of 

moderation, non-attachment and 

compassion. 

Calligraphy – literally, “beautiful 

writing,” one of the most 

respected art forms in China. 

Chinese characters are written 

with a brush and ink on paper 

or silk in a number of different 

styles. 

Celadon – a high-firing, greenish 

glaze that derives its color from 

tiny quantities of iron oxide 

that turn the glaze green in an 

oxygen-starved kiln atmosphere. 

Confucianism – a philosophy 

based on the teachings of 

Confucius, who lived in China 

in the 6th century BC. He taught 

the importance of relationships, 

particularly between ruler and 

subject and parent and child, and 

the need for benevolence on the 

part of the ruler and parent, and 

respect on the part of the subject 

and child. 

Cong – a cylinder with a square 

cross-section made of jade and 

used in burials. The significance 

of the form is not entirely clear, 

though its form may represent 

heaven (round) and earth 

(square). 

Daoism (pronounced Dow-ism, also 

spelled Taoism) – an ancient 

Chinese philosophy based on the 

concept of the Dao, or “Way,” a 

force that animates the universe 

and inhabits all things. The 

philosopher Laozi, who lived in 

the 6th century BCE, is believed 

to have written the Daode jing, a 

text which taught the importance 

of living in harmony with the 

Dao. 

Ding – ancient tripod vessel used in 

burials to contain wine for the 

deceased. 

Divination – the art of predicting 

future events using supernatural 

powers. 

Dynasty – a succession of rulers 

who belong to the same family 

and rule over generations. 

Earthenware – a low firing clay 

(up to 1,000°C) resulting in 

porous, less durable ceramics 

such as roof tiles, flower pots, etc. 

Usually unglazed. 

Glaze – a glassy coating added 

to ceramics for protection and 

decoration. 

Han Chinese – an ethnic 

group originating in China 

and constituting 92% of the 

population of China, a total of 

about 1.3 billion people. 

Huaniao – literally, “bird and 

flower,” traditional Chinese 

paintings of birds, flowers, insects 

and other details of nature. 

Jingdezhen – a city in Jiangxi 

province in southern China that 

has produced the bulk of China’s 

porcelain since the 11th century 

AD. 

Lacquer – a coating made from 

the sap of the lacquer tree (Rhus 

verniciflua), which is applied to 

objects to make them resistant 

to water, heat, acid and insects. 

It is often colored – for example, 

black, red and green – and 

decorated with painted, carved or 

inlaid designs. 

Manchus – a northern nomadic 

people from Manchuria, who 

conquered the Han Chinese and 

established the Qing dynasty in 

1644. They considered themselves 

descendants of the Mongols. 

Mongols – a nomadic people who 

originated in the Central Asian 

plateau, north of the Gobi desert 

and south of Siberia, in what is 

now Mongolia, China and Russia. 

Under the leadership of Genghis 

Khan (c.1160–1227), the Mongols 

created the second largest empire 

in world history, extending from 

Manchuria in the east to Hundary 

in the west. They ruled China 

under the Yuan dynasty (1279- 

1368). 

Nomadic – a lifestyle that involves 

moving from place to place, 

usually according to the seasons, 

in search of food and water 

for oneself and one’s herds of 

animals. 

Neolithic Period – literally, 

“New Stone Age,” the period 

of transition from a nomadic, 

hunting existence to a more 

settled, agricultural lifestyle. 

Oracle Bones – Animal bones 

and shells used in divination. 

Questions were written on them 

in China’s earliest form of writing 

and heat was applied to create 

cracks which were believed to 

provide answers to the questions. 

Pictograph – literally “writing with 

pictures,” ancient script made 

up of pictures that evolved into a 

written language. 

Porcelain – a high-firing clay 

(c.1300°C) resulting in a pure 

white, translucent, ringing, nonporous, 

highly durable ceramic, 

usually glazed and decorated with 

31

under- and over-glaze designs. 

Sancai – literally, “three-color,” – a 

type of decoration seen first on 

Tang dynasty burial ceramics, 

usually made up of green glaze 

(from copper), a yellowish glaze 

(from iron) and the white of the 

clay beneath a transparent glaze. 

Silk Road – a network of trade 

routes that extended from China 

through Central Asia and the 

Near East all the way to Rome 

from the 1st to 12th century AD. 

Shansui – literally, “mountain 

and water,” traditional landscape 

paintings. 

Stoneware – a medium-firing clay 

(1,000-1250°c), resulting in nonporous, 

fairly durable ceramics 

which are usually glazed. 

Taotie Mask – a monster face 

found on early bronzes, jades and 

other burial objects, probably with 

a protective function. 

Wenren – literally, “person of 

literature,” a scholarly gentleman 

who has mastered the arts of 

poetry, painting, calligraphy and 

music. 

Zhong – an ancient bronze bell with 

flat sides that are struck with a 

hammer, usually played in sets. 


Books for 

Teachers 

and 

Books and 

Magazines for 

Children 

Teachers 

Chase, W. Thomas, Ancient 

Chinese Bronze Art: Casting the 

Precious Sacral Vessel, New York: 

China Institute of America, 1991. 

Clunas, Art in China (Oxford 

History of Art Series), Oxford/New 

York: Oxford University Press, 1997. 

This is a good paperback introduction 

to Chinese art and culture. 

Hutt, Julia, Understanding 

Far Eastern Art, Oxford: Phaidon, 

1987. Though out of print, this can 

still be found at used book stores 

and websites. It gives good, clear 

explanations of the arts of silk, 

porcelain, jade, lacquer and painting 

in East Asia. 

Los Angeles County Museum 

of Art, The Quest for Eternity: 

Chinese Ceramic Sculptures from 

the People’s Republic of China, Los 

Angeles/San Francisco: Los Angeles 

County Museum/Chronicle Books, 

1987. A good introduction to ancient 

Chinese burials and burial ceramics. 

McArthur, Meher, Asian Art: 

Materials, Techniques, Styles, 

London: Thames & Hudson, 2005. 

This book is divided into ten chapters 

introducing ten different Asian art 

materials – jade, silk, porcelain, 

lacquer, ivory, bamboo, paper, gold, 

wood and stone. 

Rawson, Jessica (ed.), The British 

Museum Book of Chinese Art, 

London: The Trustees of the British 

Museum, 1992. This volume is 

particularly helpful on jades, bronzes 

and ceramics, with very useful 

chronologies, glossaries and other 

appendices. 

So, Jenny F., ed., Music in the 

Age of Confucius, Washington D.C.: 

Smithsonian Institution, 2000. 

Waley, Arthur, trans., The Analects 

of Confucius, New York: Vintage 

Books, 1989. 

Children 

Bramwell, Neil D., Ancient 

China, Berkeley Heights, New Jersey: 

MyRoprtLinks.com Books, 2004. 

A Coloring Book of Ancient 

China, Santa Barbara, CA: 

Bellerophon Books, 1985. This 

coloring book includes line drawings 

of emperors, empresses, bronze 

animals and handscrolls. 

“China’s First Emperor: Shi- 

Huangdi.” Calliope, A Cobblestone 

Publication (October 1997). This issue 

focuses on the first Chinese emperor, 

from his birth to his rise to power. 

Fang, Marisa Lin, and Jung, Helen 

Ma, Far East Chinese Culture for 

Children, Far East Children’s Books, 

2004. 

“The Han Dynasty.” Calliope, A 

Cobblestone Publication (October 

1998). This issue explores the 

Han dynasty, including the arts, 

technology and creative minds of the 

period. 

Shuter, Jane, Ancient China, 

Chicago: Heinemann Library, 2006. 

Tracy, Kathleen, The Life and 

Times of Confucius, Mitchell Lane 

Publishers. 2005.

Films, Videos, 

DVDs and CDs 

Declaration issued by emperor’s successor announcing he 

will continue the policies established by Qin Shi Huang 

Feature Films 

The Emperor and the 

Assassin by Chen Kaige (1998) 

This film is about the attempted 

assassination of the First Emperor 

of China, Qin Shi Huang. This film 

is not only worth seeing for the 

story but also the sets and costumes 

which recreate China during the 

late Warring States period and Qin 

dynasty. 

Hero by Zhang Yimou (2002) 

Also about assassination attempts 

on the First Emperor, this visually 

stunning and thought-provoking 

film asks questions about the price 

of peace and national unification. 

Throughout Chinese history, much 

blood is shed as states battle for 

supremacy – then one state is 

victorious and declares a new dynasty. 

The Last Emperor by Bernardo 

Bertolucci (1987) This rich film 

depicts the life of Pu Yi, the last 

emperor of the Qing Dynasty. 

Mulan by Tony Bancroft and Barry 

Cook (1998) To save her father from 

death in the army, a Chinese maiden 

secretly goes in his place and becomes 

one of China’s greatest heroes in the 

process. This animated film set in 

ancient China contains important 

Chinese Confucian themes such as 

filial duty and honoring the ancestors. 

Educational Videos/DVDs 

Ancient China (1985, video, 50 

minutes) 

This video traces Chinese history and 

explores the roots of Chinese culture, 

including topics such as ancestor 

worship, Buddhism, Daoism and 

the Great Wall. (Available to rent or 

purchase through UCLA Center for 

East Asian Studies 310.825.0007 or 

www.international.ucla.edu/asia). 

Ancient Civilizations 

for Children 

China (video, 23 minutes) 

Designed for children 3rd-7th grade 

level, this video examines the Shang 

and Zhou dynasties and the reign 

of the First Emperor. It looks at 

Chinese innovations such as silk, 

calligraphy and the yo-yo, and the 

history of the Silk Road. It comes with 

a teacher’s guide pamphlet. (Available 

for purchase from Crizmac Art and 

Cultural Educational Materials, 

Tuscon, AZ, 800.913.8555, www. 

crizmac.com. 

Musical CDs 

The Imperial Bells of China 

(Fortuna Records, 1990) 

This CD features music by nine 

contemporary Chinese composers 

based on ancient Chinese bell music, 

played on replicas of fifth-century 

BC bronze bells and recorded by the 

Hubei Song and Dance Ensemble at 

the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in 

New York. 

Symphony 1997: Heaven Earth 

Mankind 

(Sony Classics). 

This CD features music composed 

by Chinese Academy-Award winning 

composer Tan Dun and recorded 

using replicas of ancient Chinese 

bronze bells to commemorate the reunification 

of Hong Kong with China. 

33


Museums and 

Educational 

Resources 

Asian Art Museums in 

California 

Asian Art Museum 

200 Larkin Street 

San Francisco, CA 94102 

Tel. 415.581.3500 

www.asianart.org 

Pacific Asia Museum 

46 North Los Robles Avenue 

Pasadena, CA 91101 

Tel. 626.449.2742 

www.pacificasiamuseum.org 

National Museums, 

Educational Resources and 

Useful Websites 

Asia for Educators 

East Asian Curriculum Project/ 

Project on Asia in the Core 

Curriculum 

afe.easia.columbia.edu 

Asia Society 

Education Department 

725 Park Avenue 

New York, NY 10021 

Tel: 212.327.9227 

www.asiasociety.org/education/ 

China Institute 

125 East 65th Street 

New York, NY 10021 

Tel: 212.744.8181 

www.chinainstitute.org 

China Historical Geographic 

Information System (CHGIS) 

Harvard Yenching Institute 

www.fas.harvard.edu/~chgis 

Metropolitan Museum of Art 

China: Dawn of a Golden Age 

educational website 

www.metmuseum.org/special/China/ 

index.asp 

The Freer-Sackler Galleries 

of Asian Art, Smithsonian 

Institution 

http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/ 

chineseHome.htm 

http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/ 

toc.html – A useful web-page with an 

overview of Chinese history created by 

the University of Maryland. (Please 

note that dates for Chinese historical 

periods often vary.)

A Resource Guide for Students and Teachers - Bowers Museum

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