Hua Tuo, also named Yuanhua, was from Pei Guo Jiao, today's Hao County
in Anhui Province. He was a legendary physician in the 2nd century. Hua
Tuo sought neither rank nor remuneration. He completely devoted himself
to the study of medicine, and achieved outstanding results in many
areas. His eminence in ancient China accorded him the name "miraculous
healer."Hua Tuo lost his father at the age of seven. Because his family was quite poor, his mother decided to send him to study medicine under Dr. Cai, a very close friend of Hua Tuo's father. Hua Tuo went to town and met with Dr. Cai. After he expressed his wish, Dr. Cai thought to himself, "Hua Tuo's father was my friend. If I don't take the boy as my intern, the townspeople will think of me as uncaring and disloyal. I'd better take him. However, I need to test the boy to see if he is cut out for medicine."
At that moment, Dr. Cai noticed several of his interns were collecting mulberry leaves outside, but they were having difficulty reaching the leaves on the highest branch. He decided that this would be the first test for Hua Tuo. He asked Hua Tuo, "Can you think of a way to collect the leaves on the highest branch on the tree?" Hua Tuo said, "That's easy enough," and asked for a rope. He tied a small rock at the end of the rope and threw the rope over the highest branch pressing it down, and picked all the leaves on the branch.
Next, Dr. Cai saw two goats engaged in a fight, their eyes were bloodshot with rage. No one could separate the two goats. He decided that this would be the second test for Hua Tuo. He asked, "Hua Tuo, are you able to separate these two goats?" Hua Tuo answered, "Certainly." He fetched two bundles of fresh grass and put them by the goats. The goats had gotten hungry from fighting so they were quick to turn their attention to the grass. The fight was stopped effortlessly. Greatly impressed, Dr. Cai gladly accepted him as intern.
Hua Tuo studied assiduously, and paid a great deal of attention to the clinical aspects of the practice. He became a renowned physician in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 AD - 220 AD). Nonetheless, the famed Hua Tuo never differentiated his patients. Regardless of the settings, he provided his service focusing only on saving lives and treating illnesses, reflecting his conscientious noble sentiments. He continued to practice medicine throughout his life. In surgery, internal medicine, gynecology, acupuncture, parasitology, and physiotherapy, he attained original insight and masterly expertise.
Hua Tuo was especially adept in surgery. He was the first surgeon to perform a laparotomy in Chinese medical history. To alleviate pain for his patients, he formulated an anesthetic mixture, Ma Fei San or boiled anesthetic powder preparation, which was used to provide general anesthesia. It was not until 1,600 years later, at the beginning of the 19th century that Europeans began to use general anesthesia in surgery.
Once, Hua Tuo ran into a vendor pushing a cart on the street. He had a sallow complexion, and was short of breath. He looked sick. Hua Tuo learned that he had colicky pain in the abdomen, and made the diagnosis of appendicle abscess. Hua Tuo gave the man his boiled anesthetic powder preparation to drink and he was soon anesthetized. Hua Tuo made the incision with a knife, removed the affected tissues, gave him a peritoneal lavage, sutured the wound, and applied ointment to reduce inflammation and promote healing. The patient recovered a few days later and his wound healed quickly.
In the field of obstetrics, Hua Tuo also had delved into it deeply. It was recorded in The Book of Late Han dynasty: General Li's wife was ill and sought treatment from Hua Tuo. After taking her pulse, Hua Tuo concluded that she suffered from complications of fetal death in utero. General Li confirmed that she had problems during her pregnancy but that his wife had already aborted the fetus. Hua Tuo replied,"Her pulse indicates that she still has a fetus present." General Li felt otherwise.
A hundred days later, Li's wife's condition deteriorated. Hua Tuo was asked to see her again. Upon examining her pulse again, Hua Tuo said, "Her pulse is the same as before. This is what I think happened: She had a twin pregnancy. The first twin miscarried and caused her to bleed excessively, and prevented the birth of the second twin, which subsequently died in utero, shriveled up, and got hung up by her spine." Hua Tuo then performed acupuncture on her and gave her herbal medicine to drink. Before long, she went into labor, but was unable to effect delivery of the dead fetus. Hua Tuo explained that since the dead fetus had shrunk it would be difficult to deliver normally, and would require manual removal. Hua Tuo gave instructions to the midwife, and the dead fetus was successfully removed.
In the field of acupuncture and moxibustion (therapy utilizing moxa, or mugwort herb. The mugwort is aged and ground up to a fluff; practitioners burn the fluff or process it further into a stick that resembles a (non-smokable) cigar. They can use it indirectly, with acupuncture needles, or sometimes burn it on a patient's skin), Hua Tuo also made innovative discoveries. Once, a man sought medical treatment from Hua Tuo because he had problems with his feet and he couldn't walk. After checking the man's pulse, Hua Tuo marked several acupuncture points on his back, and applied moxibustion to each point seven times. The patient began to walk soon afterwards. Hua Tuo later summarized his experience in acupuncture and moxibustion, and coined his discovery the " Intervertebral Acupuncture Points". People later termed these points the "Hua Tuo Acupuncture Points," and they are still in use today.
Hua Tuo also devised a set of exercises imitating the movements of tigers, deer, bears, monkeys, and birds called the "Exercise of the Five Animals." It became very popular. One of Hua Tuo's students, Wupu, practiced the Exercise of the Five Animals on a regular basis. Even in his nineties, Wupu remained very strong and healthy with sharp ears, eyes and good teeth.
Hua Tuo occupies an important place in Chinese medical history for his superior medical skills, and his spirit of saving the dying and helping the sick.
Epoch Times - Hua Tuo Miraculous Healer in ancient China
Historical Account from Wikipedia
Hua Tuo came from Qiao in the State of Pei (modern-day Bozhou, Anhui). Besides being one of the most respected physicians in Chinese history, Hua Tuo also devised techniques to enhance health. He developed the Wuqinxi (五禽戲 "Frolics of the Five Animals"), a series of exercises based on movements of the tiger, deer, bear, ape, and crane.
He was well known for being able to diagnose miscarriages by examining a woman's pulse and to tell whether the dead fetus was male or female depending on the position of the fetus. He was also famous for ridding people of parasites that had gotten into their bodies from ingesting uncooked meat. One account was about a snake-like parasite that blocked a man's pharynx and another was about "wriggling red headed" parasites that could cause ulcers. Dong Xi, who had heard of Hua Tuo, introduced him to Sun Ce.
Hua Tuo healed general Zhou Tai who had been gravely injured in rescuing Sun Ce's brother, Sun Quan. Hua Tuo used drugs that healed Zhou Tai's wounds within a month, and Sun Ce rewarded him richly. Cao Cao heard about Hua Tuo and summoned him to his court. Henceforth Hua Tuo was often in attendance. Cao Cao suffered from chronic headaches (which many today believe was a brain tumor) and Hua Tuo would treat Cao Cao with acupuncture to stop the pain.
Later when Cao Cao had taken personal control of the affairs of the state, his pain became worse and more frequent. Hua Tuo told Cao Cao that this kind of illness would need long term treatments and thus Hua Tuo came to treat Cao Cao exclusively...
Fictional Accounts
In the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Hua Tuo supposedly healed the Shu Han general, Guan Yu, who had been struck with a poisoned arrow during his Battle of Fancheng. Hua Tuo offered to anesthetize Guan Yu, but he simply laughed that he was not afraid of pain. Hua Tuo used a knife to cut the flesh from Guan Yu's arm and scrape the poison from the bone, and the sounds chilled all those who heard them. During this excruciating treatment, Guan Yu continued to play the board game Go with Ma Liang, without flinching from pain. When later asked by Ma Liang, Guan Yu said that he feigned being unhurt to keep the morale of the army high.
After Hua Tuo's successful operation, Guan Yu allegedly rewarded him with a sumptuous banquet, and offered a present of 100 ounces of gold, but he refused, saying that a doctor's duty was curing patients, not making profits. Despite the historical fact that Hua Tuo died in 208, a decade before Guan Yu fought the 219 Battle of Fancheng, this storied operation is a popular artistic theme.
