Houttuynia cordata Thunb. grown in wet earth in China, Japan and Korea, has often been cited in medical literature for its medicinal effects. In this paper, the pharmaceutical effects of Houttuynia cordata Thunb., featured in the East Asian literature were studied. It was revealed that it has a wide variety of uses, including remedial treat-ments for pneumonia, antidote, inflammation, syphilis, abscess, paralysis and gynecological diseases. Its application methods also are numerous: drinking as tea or squeezed juice, application to wounds, wet dressing, chewing raw roots and mixing with other plants, liquor and food materials. The major pharmaceutical effects are as follows: antibiosis, immunity enhancement, urination, pain relieving, vasodilator and cough lozenge.