Physician of the late Eastern Han, said to have operated under an anaesthetic called 麻沸散 and to have devised the 五禽戏 exercises. A skilled doctor is praised as 华佗再世, 'Hua Tuo come again'.
Huà Tuó fāmíng le máfèisǎn, yònglái zài shǒushù shí mázuì bìngrén.
Hua Tuo invented mafeisan, which he used to anesthetize patients during surgery.
Tips
history
In 三国志, Cao Cao had him killed for faking his wife's illness to avoid serving him. The story that he offered to open Cao Cao's skull comes from the novel 三国演义, which also has him scrape poison from 关羽's bone, though he was dead by then.
mistakes
As a surname 华 is read in the fourth tone, as in 华佗 and the mountain 华山. The rising-tone huá of 中华 'China' is the everyday reading, which makes this a classic trap.