传统医学是“在维护人类健康以及预防、诊断、改善或治疗身心疾病方面，使用的种种以不同文化所特有的无论是否可以解释的经验、理论、信仰为基础的知识、技能与实践的总和”（WHO，2014）。它不仅是古代科学的瑰宝，也是打开不同文明宝库的钥匙。在世界传统医学大家庭中，中医与南亚传统医学的历史最为悠久，本研究以之为窗口探究了穿越古今的传统医学的跨文化传播现象。在古代，传统医学的跨文化传播以人为中介，伴随着人的宗教活动、商旅活动等展开。在跨文化的两大传受主体之间，存在一系列文化中介体，共同构成了流动、变化、能动的跨文化传播网络。尽管多文化、多语言、多族群的参与增加了传播的噪音，导致信息编码与解码的多元性和不确定性，古代传统医学跨文化传播的效果却包括知-信-行多层次，最突出的效果在于一种文化不仅知道、认同另一种文化的传统医学，而且能够将之部分地融入自身的知识系统与行为实践中。在当代，传统医学的跨文化传播范式发生变化。一方面，国际传播理念兴起、跨文化传播隐退，国家权力主导传统医学的对外传播，古代多文化、多中介、多语言参与的能动的跨文化传播网络消失了，生发于民间的、零散的、随机的跨文化传播行为不再常见。更本质的是，“交往的人的依赖”让位于“交往的物的依赖”，工具理性取代价值理性规训着传统医学的跨域传播实践。人的交往形式也被一定程度上物化，公众往往通过大众媒体的滤镜认知另一个文化的传统医学；通过对南亚媒体上的中国传统医学和中国媒体上的南亚传统医学的分析，本研究发现它们都一定程度上被他者化了，中医与南亚传统医学的文化渊源被当代媒体极大程度上忽视，且从发稿地、信源等统计可看出西方明显的话语言说介入。将古今连接，探讨流动中的传统医学跨文化传播是本研究的创新之处。研究揭示出，在漫长的穿越时空的传统医学跨文化传播中，一种传统医学不仅与另一种传统医学产生相互作用，其自身的意涵也在流动中悄然变化。通过对藏医、瑜伽、大医精诚等典型案例的分析，本研究发现，现代性兴起后，西方权力深度介入东方传统医学的跨文化传播中，成为尽管隐形、但强势存在的第三个跨文化传播主体，对传统医学进行文化挪用并制造文化冲突。基于对西方权力的批判，以及对文化杂糅等概念局限性的发掘，研究提出“文明交流互鉴”可作为传统医学跨文化传播的理想模型，在“一带一路”倡议所指的新全球化背景下被赋予期待。
Traditional Medicine (TM) is considered not only a treasure of ancient science, but also the key to opening a treasure house of different civilizations. Among the world's traditional medicine families, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Traditional Medicine in South Asia have the longest history. This study takes the two systems as examples to explore the intercultural communication of traditional medicine across ancient and modern times.In ancient times, the intercultural communication of traditional medicine was carried out by human beings, amid people's religious and business activities. There are a series of cultural intermediaries between the two major intercultural subjects, which together constitute an intercultural communication network that is mobile, changeable and active. Although multicultural, multilingual and multi-ethnic groups increase the noise of communication, resulting in the increasing diversity and uncertainty of information coding and decoding, the effect of intercultural communication of traditional medicine in ancient times still includes various levels of Knowledge-Attitude-Practice. The most prominent effect is that one culture not only knows and recognizes the traditional medicine in another cultural system, but also partially integrates it into its own knowledge system and behavioral practice.In contemporary times, the paradigm of intercultural communication of traditional medicine has changed. It has gone through a trade-off between international communication and intercultural communication. With the former come to be in vogue, the powers of nation-states dominate. The dynamic intercultural communication network in ancient times which is multicultural, multi-intermediary and multi-lingual has disappeared; the scattered and random intercultural communication behaviors that were born in folk were no longer common. In essence, with instrument rationality replacing value rationality during intercultural communications in traditional medicine, the dependence of people who interact gives way to the dependence of things, and human exchanges were reified substantially. The form of human communication has also been materialized to a certain extent, and the public recognizes traditional medicine in another culture through the filter of the mass media. Through the content analysis of Traditional Chinese Medicine in South Asian media and traditional South Asian medicines in Chinese media, the study shows that both have been through the process of othering. The cultural origins of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Traditional Medicine in South Asia have been greatly ignored by contemporary media. And it can be found through the statistical analysis of the places of publication as well as sources that the western power in discourse intervened apparently.Connecting the past and modern to explore the intercultural communication of the traveling of traditional medicines is the innovation point of this study. The study reveals that in the long run, one traditional medicine not only interacts with another, but its own meaning has also changed unconsciously. Through analyzing some typical cases including Tibetan medicine, Yoga as well as Dayijingcheng, it must be pointed out that after the rise of modernity, the Western power has deeply involved in the intercultural communication of oriental traditional medicines, becoming the third invisible but strong subject in the process of intercultural communication which appropriates from traditional medicine cultures and creates cultural conflicts between each other. Based on the critique of Western power intervention and the exploration of the limitations of cultural hybridity, the study proposes that mutual learning between different civilizations can be used as an ideal model for intercultural communication of traditional medicine, and it can be expected in the context of the new globalization referred to in The Belt and Road initiative.
