Reason 2: Hua Tuo's attainments in internal medicine did not ensure the success of the surgery. From the scraping of bones and some of the medical deeds of Hua Tuo, Hua Tuo should be the originator of surgery, for internal medicine his attainments and Zhang Zhongjing is far from. Anyone who has studied Chinese medicine knows that Zhang Zhongjing's "Treatise on Typhoid Miscellaneous Diseases" has a detailed exposition of disease-causing factors and records a large number of effective prescriptions. Especially on the Chinese medicine theory of "wind" disease, also made a detailed explanation of its establishment of the six meridians identification of the treatment principle, by successive generations of medical practitioners to promote. This is China's first medical monograph from theory to practice, to establish the rules of diagnosis and treatment, is one of the most influential works in the history of Chinese medicine. Cao Cao's disease is precisely a symptom of "wind" in Chinese medicine. Therefore, if Zhang Zhongjing had taken over the treatment of Cao Cao's illness, he might have been able to save him, and his clinical experience is still widely valued by medical students and clinicians. Although Hua Tuo proposed a treatment plan: "After drinking Ma Bo San, the head must be cut open with a sharp axe to remove the wind saliva." But this program has not been implemented for a long time, also related to his attainments in internal medicine.
Reason three, Cao Cao's skepticism. In this case, also see how Cao Cao's treacherous "treacherous" word, is reflected. Craniotomy is a major surgery, even if successful can not ensure that there can not leave sequelae, such as failure, the life will not be guaranteed. Cao Cao was overly intelligent in his life, and he was also cautious in dealing with this matter, fearing that Hua Tuo would take advantage of the craniotomy to kill him. However, we can see from Hua Tuo's proposed treatment that Hua Tuo was not trying to kill Cao Cao, but rather Cao Cao never accepted Hua Tuo's treatment. It wasn't until later that Hua Tuo left Cao Cao on the pretext that his wife was sick and had to be taken care of at home. Only then did Cao Cao's heart rise to kill him, and he sent his men to capture Hua Tuo, throw him into prison, and torture him to death.
Our surgical ancestor Hua Tuo died in this way, leaving no medical monographs, which is a great pity in the history of medicine in China. History, Hua Tuo was killed before, had taken out a manuscript, handed over to the guards of his jailer, said: "I am going to die, I hate to have the book of the green bag has not been passed on to the world, gifted to the public, can follow my art, to save lives." The jailer did not dare to ask for it for fear of trouble, and Hua Tuo did not force him to do so, so he had no choice but to burn it. Cao Cao later regretted killing Hua Tuo, and his beloved son, Cao Chong, was gravely ill, with no doctor able to cure him. Cao Cao lamented hopelessly, "I regret killing Hua Tuo and making my son die of rigor mortis."