A lot of information on techniques, materials and the production periods for ancient polychrome sculptures has been collected with the help of related literature and by application of modern analytical methods. The revelation of their historical, scientific and artistic values is of great help to art historians and conservators. In this work, the 3D video and polarized light microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, SEMscanning electron microscopy with energydispersive Xray spectroscopy, Xray powder diffraction and Xray fluorescence were applied to a Ming dynasty(1368-1644 AD)polychrome Taoist star now in Shanxi Art Museum. It was found that the polychrome sculpture had been repainted several times. The foot was repainted four times. From the clay layer to the surface layer the pigments used in turns were:carbon black (C) for the black pigment, atacamite (CuCl₂·3Cu(OH)₂) for the green pigment, lead white (PbCO₃) for the white pigment, and a mixture of indigo (C₆H₁₀N₂O₂) and litharge (PbO) for the brown red pigment. The head of the polychrome sculpture was repainted twice, with ultramarine blue(Na6-8Al₆Si₆O₂₄(S2-4)) and indigo, respectively. On the sculpture body, chrome yellow (PbCrO₄) is used as the yellow pigment and the ultramarine blue as the blue pigment. A mixture of vermilion (HgS) and red lead (Pb₃O₄) is used as the red pigment and a mixture of chrome yellow and ultramarine blue is used as green pigment. The components of the white layer are the mixture of quartz (SiO₂) and kaolin (Al₂Si₂O₇·2H₂O). The results show that the polychrome sculpture was repainted or repaired many times in the past hundred years. Judging from the similar components of the different white layers, it can be concluded that the temple has a tradition of using kaolin as a component of the white layer.