Hua Tuo and Cao Cao = Hua Tuo yu Cao Cao

Description: The film opens with the following caption: It happened 1700 years ago, the Eastern Han Dynasty then existed only one name. Warlords carved up the country and the people suffered. The Battle of Gunadu was fought in A.D 200 in the fifth year of Jianan. It was a battle to decide whether the country was to unify or to split. Cao Cao’s camp is the central setting of the narrative, and we are introduced to the warlord as a man who suffers from chronic migraines; his illness is kept a secret from his troops to preserve morale. Cao Cao’s advisor, Minister Xun, is closely acquainted to the miracle healer: Hua Tuo. We are introduced to Hua Tuo in a scene where he is treating an official who has been suffering from severe stomach cramps. It is made evident that the methods Hua Tuo employs are non-sequitor and unpredictable-his brilliance is illustrated through the cure of the official. Hua Tuo is able to temporarily alleviate Cao Cao’s migraine by inserting a needle into Cao Cao’s diaphragm. Impressed, due to the fact that he had not responded to any of the treatments by other physicians, the warlord insists on having Hua Tuo as his personal physician. However, Hua Tuo tactfully refuses, claiming he needs to return home to attend to his sick wife. The truth being that Hua Tuo is only interested in curing the illnesses of the common people, and his life’s ambition is to discover the ingredients to formulate an anesthesia. Shortly after returning home, he was called again and subsequently forced by Cao to return to his side. The narrative conveys the continuous struggle between the objectives of the two men; Cao Cao cannot understand why Hua Tuo insists on the refusal of wealth and status, instead, preferring to heal the poor. In the midst of the warlord’s illness and his personal struggles with the physician, he is gradually making gaining power over the war-torn lands. Eventually, Cao Cao becomes furious at Hua Tuo’s impudent disobedience, and in order to make an example of him to the rest of his men, he orders the execution of the physician. While in prison, Hua Tuo compiles all of his clinical experience in writing and tries to give it to a prison guard for safe keeping. However, out of fear of Cao Cao, the guard refuses to do any favours or accept anything from Hua Tuo. In extreme anger and frustration, Hua Tuo burns his manuscripts, turning all his clinical knowledge to ashes.