Hua Tuo

Hua Tuo was a Chinese physician of the late Eastern Han dynasty, working in present-day Anhui province, remembered as one of the most inventive medical practitioners of ancient China. He is credited as the first person in China known to have used general anesthesia for surgery, employing a wine-based preparation called mafeisan, and he was also skilled in acupuncture, moxibustion and herbal decoctions, often treating patients with only one or two needle placements. He devised the Wuqinxi, or Exercise of the Five Animals, a system of therapeutic movement modeled on the tiger, deer, bear, ape and crane, intended to preserve health and prevent illness rather than only treat it.