The various oriental herbal medicines, which have usually been used for treatment of reducing fever, purging intense heat and detoxication, were screened to determine the antibacterial activity and the minimal inhibitory concentration against antibiotics-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The results obtained were as follows: 1. Among the 23 oriental medicines tested, the water-soluble extract of Coptis japonica showed very excellent antibacterial activity against antibiotics-sensitive and -resistant S. aureus. A little activity was found in the extracts of Scutellaria baicalensis, Eriobotrya japonica and Prunus mume against antibiotics-sensitive S. aureus and in that extracts of P. mume, Schizandra chinensis and S. baicalensis against antibiotics-resistant S. aureus. When C japonica was used, the high antibacterial activity was shown against Bacillus subtilis and other extracts showed a little or no antibacterial activity against B. subtilis and E. coli as a control. 2. The highest antibacterial activities against antibiotics-resistant S. aureus were found in the ethanol-soluble extract of C japonica. Other ethanol-soluble extracts of S, baicalensis, S. chinensis and P. mume showed a little activity against both antibiotics-sensitive and antibiotics-resistant S. aureus. 3. Among the medicinal herbs tested, the water- and ethanol extracts of C. japonica showed very excellent antibacterial activity against the pathogenic S. aureus and both Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis used as a control. 4. When the water-soluble extracts of C. japonica and S. baicalensis, minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) against antibiotics-sensitive S. aureus were $20mg/m{ell};and;30mg/m{ell}$, respectively. The MICs of the ethanol-soluble extracts of C. japonica and P. scabriosaefolia were $7.5mg/m{ell};and;12mg/m{ell}$, respectively. 5. For the MICs against antibiotics-resistant S. aureus, the water-soluble extracts of C. japonica and P. mume showed $15mg/m{ell};and;10mg/m{ell}$, respectively. The MICs of the ethanol-soluble extracts of C. japonica and P. mume were $13mg/m{ell};and;20mg/m{ell}$, respectively. As a result, the highest antibacterial activity was found in both water- and ethanol-soluble extracts of C. japonica against antibiotics-resistant S. aureus. And the water- and ethanol-soluble extracts of S. baicalensis, S. chinensis and P. mume showed comparatively high antibacterial activities against both antibiotics-sensitive and -resistant S. aureus.