This review presents seven examples of effective drugs derived from the ancient Chinese therapeutics. They are artemisinin (qinghaosu) and its derivatives for malaria, henbane drugs for microcirculatory and other disturbances, tetrahydropalmatine as a dopamine receptor antagonist, yuanhuacine and yuanhuadine for abortion, trichosanthin for abortion, moles, and choriocarcinoma, indirubin for leukemia, and Tripterygium plants for autoimmune and various other diseases.
