On Overseas Spread of TCM at ASEAN Countries and Its Enlightenment: Research into Traditional Chinese Medicine Diplomacy — Tradition, Dialogue, and Goodwill

Xinyue Lin, Ao Zhang, Xichun Xiang, Yong Liang

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¹ School of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Xihua University, Chengdu 610039, China,

ssr 2025 , 7(12), 211–218; https://doi.org/10.26689/ssr.v7i12.13433

Abstract

Based on the framework of the book Traditional Chinese Medicine Diplomacy: Tradition, Dialogue, and Goodwill, this paper explores the overseas dissemination of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in ASEAN countries and its implications for cross-cultural competence development through case studies. Taking Singapore and Vietnam as typical cases, it analyzes TCM’s dissemination models and effects in distinct sociocultural contexts, and highlights the core role of cross-cultural competence in TCM’s international communication. The study concludes that TCM’s successful overseas dissemination relies not only on historical and cultural ties but more critically on the effective construction and application of cross-cultural competence, enabling the shift from cultural export to value sharing — which requires synergistic efforts in national strategic support, narrative innovation, localized integration, practice standardization, and translation improvement.

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