brianlkennedy
Orange Belt
I went over to Lung Shan Temple yesterday afternoon for some of the ceremonies connected with Ghost Month. While I was there I got a couple of religious medallions for myself and my wife. The one I got for myself is this one
It features a famous historical figure, Hua Tuo, ([FONT=新]華佗[/FONT]) who was a Han dynasty physician and later deified in the Daoist pantheon. People may know him as the inventor of the exercise program known as the 5 Animals Frolic as well as his fictional appearance in the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, where he performs surgery on Kuan Ti. The story is that Kuan Ti had been struck with a poisoned arrow and Hua Tuo offered to anesthetize him so that the operation would not hurt, but Guan Yu simply laughed and said that he was not afraid of pain. So Hua Tuo performed the surgery while General Kuan Ti continued to play chess as if nothing unusual was going on.
I post it simply to point out the longstanding connection between Daoism, Chinese medicine and famous martial arts figures. Plus I quite like the medallion. I noticed yesterday that the shrine holding Hua Tuo was extremely popular with the folks coming to worship. He is considered a powerful deity in Taiwan, and along with General Kuan Ti, a favorite of Taiwanese martial artists. Ali had Dr. Ferdie Pacheco as his fight doctor, General Kuan had Hua Tuo.
Take care,
Brian
It features a famous historical figure, Hua Tuo, ([FONT=新]華佗[/FONT]) who was a Han dynasty physician and later deified in the Daoist pantheon. People may know him as the inventor of the exercise program known as the 5 Animals Frolic as well as his fictional appearance in the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, where he performs surgery on Kuan Ti. The story is that Kuan Ti had been struck with a poisoned arrow and Hua Tuo offered to anesthetize him so that the operation would not hurt, but Guan Yu simply laughed and said that he was not afraid of pain. So Hua Tuo performed the surgery while General Kuan Ti continued to play chess as if nothing unusual was going on.
I post it simply to point out the longstanding connection between Daoism, Chinese medicine and famous martial arts figures. Plus I quite like the medallion. I noticed yesterday that the shrine holding Hua Tuo was extremely popular with the folks coming to worship. He is considered a powerful deity in Taiwan, and along with General Kuan Ti, a favorite of Taiwanese martial artists. Ali had Dr. Ferdie Pacheco as his fight doctor, General Kuan had Hua Tuo.
Take care,
Brian
