Officials from Chinese museum visit WSU

WSU hosted a presentation August 13 on the conservation of the Terracotta Warriors, in which representatives from the Chinese museum that holds the statues spoke.

The Terracotta Warriors are ancient statues that were buried with the First Emperor of China.

WSU is the only university in the United States with a “working relationship” with the museum, according to Terracotta Museum Chief Chemist Rong Bo.

“The only other countries that share a similar relationship are Germany, Belgium and England,” Bo said.

Bo described the process and techniques that are required to conserve the statues. Each process and technique requires extreme delicacy, which makes it difficult and very time consuming, Bo said.

“Between 1996 and 2004, more than 30 fragments have been treated and only about 20 complete sculptures,” Bo said.

The statues are treated with lacquer, a protective coating.

If the statues are not kept in a sealed area with 95% rh (relative humidity), they will dry and warp; the lacquer will peel almost all the way off in four minutes. The rest of the presentation focused on the detailed technical aspects of each process and technique used for conservation.

Internships for the Terracotta Warriors Museum in XI'AN, China are available to Wright State students, according to Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics Yi Li.