Most inflammatory disorders are usually treated using anti-inflammatory drugs including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) and steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (SAID). In a prolonged use, however, they may frequently produce adverse side-effects. Thus, it is necessarily required to develop a new anti-inflammatory drug with little side-effects. Nephrite has been widely used by traditional oriental medicine to cure the various chronic diseases. In order to verify the anti-inflammatory activity of nephrite, the TPA (12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-acetate) or the croton oil-induced edema was developed in the mouse ears and the nephrite powder suspension or the nephrite water was directly applied to the ear edema. It was found that nephrite could significantly reduce the ear swelling implying its strong potential as an active anti-inflammatory agent when comparing to indomethacin, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.