Hua Tuo, traditional "fight doctor"

[brianlkennedy]

I went over to Lung Shan Temple yesterday afternoon for some of the ceremonies connected with Ghost Month. While I was there I got a couple of religious medallions for myself and my wife. The one I got for myself is this one

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q48/brianlkennedy/huatoumedal.jpg

It features a famous historical figure, Hua Tuo, (華佗) who was a Han dynasty physician and later deified in the Daoist pantheon. People may know him as the inventor of the exercise program known as the 5 Animals Frolic as well as his fictional appearance in the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, where he performs surgery on Kuan Ti. The story is that Kuan Ti had been struck with a poisoned arrow and Hua Tuo offered to anesthetize him so that the operation would not hurt, but Guan Yu simply laughed and said that he was not afraid of pain. So Hua Tuo performed the surgery while General Kuan Ti continued to play chess as if nothing unusual was going on.

I post it simply to point out the longstanding connection between Daoism, Chinese medicine and famous martial arts figures. Plus I quite like the medallion. I noticed yesterday that the shrine holding Hua Tuo was extremely popular with the folks coming to worship. He is considered a powerful deity in Taiwan, and along with General Kuan Ti, a favorite of Taiwanese martial artists. Ali had Dr. Ferdie Pacheco as his fight doctor, General Kuan had Hua Tuo.


Take care,
Brian

[lhommedieu]

Nice article about Hua To, with some good pictures at the end:

http://www.itmonline.org/arts/huatuo.htm

Best,

Steve

[TenTigers]

well, I for one, know that I am no Guan Gung. My Sifu/Doctor put on a Kung-Fu movie, and proceeded to massage my fingers which had been recently dislocated. When I winced from the pain (which was severe) he instructed me to watch the television. Well, it didn't work. Perhaps if he had put in a good porn tape....

[mantis108]

The legend about Hua Tuo (around 190 CE) created 5 animals frolic is properly a reflection of preventive medicine would include some sort of physical exercises (Dao Yin) along with dieting to help people to stay health by that time IMHO. Prior to his time, one of the earliest records of Dao Yin was found in the work of Daoist scholar Zhaung Zi (369 - 286 BCE). BTW, it is prudent to remember that the distinction between Confucian and Daoist didn't quite exist during his time and they were generally considered as academics. It's more towards Han dynasty that the distinction became important as the Confucian school gained political favor from the Emperors. There are also artifacts from Western Han dynasty (ie Ma Wang Dui site dated around 186 - 165 BCE) that suggest Dao Yin practice is quite sophisticated already.

Mantis108

[lhommedieu]

A brief segment from the BBC "Way of the Warrior" series that shows Hong Xi Xiang using cupping, Tui Na, and moxabustion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8pGrwOCnd8&mode=related&search=

Best,

Steve

[couch]

A good friend of mine, and fellow Acupuncturist/Chinese Medicine Practitioner, lost his father to cancer.

He then had a chance to work with a cancer specialist in Calgary, Alberta. He then shared with me his "family" cancer acupuncture treatment: All the Hua Tuo Jia Ji!

He also supplied many "family" herbs to his patients.

Funny how things worked out in the end for my friend. Thought I'd share the treatment he used as well as the story.

Best,
Kenton Sefcik, R.Ac

[dougadam]

Good find my friend.