The therapeutic practice of Chinese medicine was established in Africa in the wake of institutional cooperation missions and Chinese migration. More recently, the process of tracing the heritage of "traditional" knowledge initiated by UNESCO provoked transformations in the field of therapeutic medicine and oriented the cultural strategies of China in Africa. If the analysis of Chinese state policies allows for the contextualization of collective and individual strategies, the evaluation of the specific roles of local social dynamics and the multiplicity of constructions and symbolic practices specific to various African countries. This contribution of the ANR EsCA provides a history of the evolution of traditional Chinese medicine in China (F. Obringer), a review of the dynamics of local traditional medicines in sub-Saharan Africa ( J.-P. Dozon), as well as a preliminary study on Chinese medicine in Mali (F. Bourdarias).
