Hua Tuo 華佗 | |
|---|---|
 A Qing dynasty illustration of Hua Tuo | |
| Born | c. 140[1] |
| Died | 208 (aged 68)[1] |
| Other names | Yuanhua (元化) |
| Occupation | Physician |
| Hua Tuo | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 華佗 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 华佗 | ||||||
| |||||||
| Yuanhua | |||||||
| Chinese | 元化 | ||||||
| |||||||
Hua Tuo (c. 140–208), courtesy name Yuanhua, was a Chinese physician who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty.[1] Historical texts, such as Records of the Three Kingdoms and Book of the Later Han record Hua Tuo as having been the first person in China to use anaesthesia during surgery. He used a general anaesthetic combining wine with a herbal concoction called mafeisan (麻沸散; literally "cannabis boil powder"). Besides being respected for his expertise in surgery and anaesthesia, Hua Tuo was famous for his abilities in acupuncture, moxibustion, herbal medicine and medical daoyin exercises. He developed the Wuqinxi (五禽戲; literally "Exercise of the Five Animals") from studying the movements of the tiger, deer, bear, ape and crane.
- ^ a b c de Crespigny (2007), p. 332.