From ancient times to the present, many brilliant physicians have dedicated themselves to the matter of anesthesia.
They tried all sorts of methods to help patients withstand pain and successfully undergo surgery.
According to historical records, even before Hua Tuo, the physician Bian Que of the Warring States period used a "poisonous wine" to "stupefy a patient for three days."
A text unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tomb, the *Fifty-Two Disease Formulas*, records an anesthetic that was simply wine mixed with aconite.
Jin Huangfu's *Acupuncture and Moxibustion A and B* also contains records of using acupuncture for pain relief.
Sun Simiao's *Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Cabinet* and Li Shizhen's *Compendium of Materia Medica* also describe the anesthetic properties of the Mandala Flower.
But these were all in their infancy. In terms of both duration and safety, they were incomparable to modern anesthetic drugs.
