Natural products, total number of 175, were screened to test for their effect on the replication of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Five of them, such as Eriobotrya japonica, Eugenia caryphyllata, Cuscuta chinensis, Glycyrrhiza uralensis, and Coptis chinensis were shown to be effective in inhibiting the replication of HIV-1 in tissue culture and their selectivity indexes were 42, 40, 14, 18 and 65, respectively. To further fractionate Coptis chinensis, which is shown to be highest anti-HIV-1 activity, methanol extracts of Coptis chinensis were fractionated into methylene chloride at pH3, pH10 and water residue. The selectivity Indexes of CH$_2$C1$_2$(pH 3), CH$_2$C1$_2$(pH 10) and water residue were 50, 22 and 98 respectively. Our results show that the water residue of Coptis chinensis was the most effective for anti-HIV-1 activity.