It's not hard to sort out a clue to this debate. Most of the Chinese gods and goddesses were mortals, such as Zhong Kui, Zhang, and others . The "physical body" of an immortal that once existed in a particular dynasty was actually just a vehicle. Later generations seldom studied the "physical body", and mostly only burned incense and kowtowed to the person who became immortal. Similarly, the divine doctor Hua Tuo became a god in the field of traditional Chinese medicine, and the "flesh" Hua Tuo, who once existed at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, is no longer important.
There was indeed a man named Hua Tuo in history. According to the current administrative division, he was from Qiao Cheng District, Bozhou City, Anhui Province. It is said that the Hua family was originally a prestigious family in the area, but by the time Hua Tuo was born, his family was already in decline. However, it can still be seen that he was a learned family, otherwise the name would have been so strange. The name "Tuo", which many people don't know, means "loaded", indicating his father's expectation that he would grow up to assume important responsibilities.
Ancient Chinese literati were very active, which has led us to see far more written material than any other ancient civilization. However, scholars often helped themselves by crossing the border into history and medicine. The excessive hype surrounding Hua Tuo eventually made him a suspicious man. Describing Hua Tuo as "a hundred years old, but still with a strong face, as a god," there are also some historical records that state that Hua Tuo looked 60 years old until he was 150 or 60 years old. These magical texts clearly hint at the authenticity of other accounts of Hua Tuo.
In addition to his longevity, Hua Tuo's skillful surgeries are also suspect. According to existing common sense, it was inconceivable to be able to perform internal organ surgery at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and even more so to perform craniotomy with a sharp axe. In ancient times, testing blood types and blood transfusions were impossible. How could the patient's blood loss be replenished during surgery? Splitting the brain with an axe, not to mention how to harness the power. Without oxygen-absorbing equipment and cardiac pacing devices, the success rate of surgery would surely be zero.
"Believe it or not, I believe it anyway!" Many Chinese doctors believe in Hua Tuo's miraculous surgery. Their guess is that Hua Tuo had once taught himself to master the art of absolute healing, and that his surgical ability may have reached an ultra-modern level across versions. He could administer general anesthesia with oral anaesthesia before surgery, acupuncture to stop bleeding, and some magical herbs to reduce inflammation and prevent infection after surgery . As for Hua Tuo, why did the level of Chinese surgery regress? That's because before his death, Hua Tuo gave the essence of his life's medical work, the Hou Han Shu Hua Tuo Biography, to his jailer, but this loser didn't dare to take it, so Hua Tuo set the Qing Bao Jing on fire.
Hua Tuo had no master and was completely self-taught. So why has there been no Hua Tuo-style master surgeon of Chinese medicine for more than a thousand years? In this regard, some Chinese doctors now explain that they are bound by feudal rituals. Under the influence of "the skin of the body is broken, but the parents do not dare to damage", it is not filial piety at all. However, if Hua Tuo did not do a lot of human dissection back then, how could he possibly grasp the complex structure of the human body and the structure of the brain? How did he get so many autopsies in the feudal era? Did the local government not intervene? No public pressure?
For thousands of years, many non-Chinese medicine practitioners have been skeptical of the exaggeration of Hua Tuo's medical skills. Mr. Chen Yinke once pointed out that Hua Tuo's exploits actually originated from the story of the sacred medicine field in India. The "image of Cao Chong" associated with Hua Tuo's contemporaries is also derived from Indian Buddhist legends. It is possible that Chen Yincheng's statement is true.
Anything with a "god" attached to it is bound to be more literary than authentic. There may have been a famous doctor named Hua Tuo in history. Then someone praised him as a divine doctor, and he continued to add fuel to the fire, and became more and more of a non-person. Over time, it made people wonder if Hua Tuo turned out to be a virtual person.