An experiment was conducted to determine the concentration of emodin, the main bioactive content of aqueous extracts of Sargentodoxa cuneata (SC). In addition, the anti-inflammatory, anti-nociceptive activities and the effects of ESC on pelvic inflammation rats were studied. Twenty-one rodents were randomly divided into a SC group, an indomethacin group and a model control group (n=7 in each group) in an ear edema test, a carrageenin-induced paw edema test, a cotton pellet-induced granuloma formation test, and an acetic acid-induced writhing test, respectively. 60 rats were used for pelvic inflammation test. 50 model rats with pelvic inflammation were established and the serum levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in each group (n=10) were detected with the Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA). Analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA) was employed with 5% significance level (P<0.05) and two-tailed tests were used for all hypothesis tests. The concentration of emodin, a bioactive component in the medicinal plant, was determined by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). SC extracts had similar anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive activities to indomethacin. ESC significantly decreased the levels of TNF-α and IL-6 of the model rats compared with indomethacin. The content of emodin in ESC was 0.2 mg/g.SC, with its strong anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive activities, can be used to treat both acute and chronic inflammation and to relieve the associated pain.