Famous Chinese herbalist Hua Tuo
2 min readHua Tuo（110-207）was born in Qiao County of the Pei Kingdom（now in Anhui Province）.He was inspired to pursue a career in medicine after seeing many people die of epidemics，famines，and injuries from wars.As the first famous Chinese surgeon，Hua Tuo developed the use of anesthesia and furthered the limited Chinese knowledge of anatomy.He has been called“Divine Doctor” because he preferred simple methods-using a small number of acupuncture points and formulas composed of only a few herbs.Hua Tuo pioneered medicoathletics in China.He believed that physical exercises could toughen the body，cure diseases，and prolong lives.He practiced Qi Gong and taught the“Frolics of the Five Animals”，imitating the movements of the tiger，bear，ape，deer and bird.These practices were later incorporated into various health-promoting martial arts practices，such as Tai Ji.
In his later years，he was summoned by Cao Cao to Xuchang to treat his wind syndrome of the head. As Hua Tuo was unwilling to work as the private doctor of Cao Cao，he found an excuse to ask for leave to return to his home，and refused to come back to Xuchang several times.Finally，he was killed by Cao Cao in 207 at the age of 97.While in prison，the doctor asked his gaoler to help smuggle his medical works to the outside world for the benefit of the people.
Unable to persuade the gaoler，who was afraid to take the risk，Hua Tuo committed his works to flames.This was a great loss to the medical heritage of China.
