Located in Qingshuihe County (in southern Inner Mongolia), Ta’erliang tomb mural paintings can date back to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms periods. In our study, we examined the pigment layer, white underground layer and plaster layer of five fallen fragments, with the aim of investigating the composition of the mural painting materials. The methods used in this study include optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectrometry. The results show that 1) the red pigment is mainly ferric oxide, the yellow pigment hydrous ferric oxide and the black and grey part graphite-structured carbon black; 2) the main composition of the white ground layer is calcite; 3) the plaster containing quartz, calcite and feldspar also shows some white grains identified as lime, which suggests that lime was added into the plaster to improve its cohesion; 4) The track and the plant opal inside the mud layer indicate that natural fibers of wheat leaves and wheat shells were mixed in preparation for making the plaster layer. According to the analytical results for the materials, the mural paintings were probably made through the following procedures:lime was added into the mud which had been mixed with plant fibres to make the ground layer, and then white lime was brushed on it. The paintings were finally drawn on the top of the plaster layer.