Aqueous extracts of medicinal plants traditionally used in the East Asia such as China, Korea, and Japan were screened for inotropic activity using isolated rabbit atria. Among the twenty-one aqueous-extracts from medicinal plants, the aqueous extracts of Convallaria keiskei(ACK) and rhizome of Coptis chinesis (ACC) were found to exhibit distinctive positive inotropic activity. The aqueous extracts of C. keiskei and rhizome of C. chinensis significantly increased atrial stroke volume and pulse pressure in beating rabbit atria. These findings suggest that the aqueous extracts of C. keiskei and rhizome of C. chinensis enhance the cardiac muscle contractility and then could be useful for the treatment of cardiac failure.