China and South Korea have become embroiled as reactive players in what some refer to as the 'new history wars' that surround contested aspects of what are in fact a shared cultural legacy, with both parties feeling a sense of usurpation and disenfranchisement at the hands of the other. These debates have revolved around the international recognition, often under the auspices of UNESCO, of the provenance of Gaogouli/Koguryeo culture, the ownership of the Mid-Autumn Festival and its dragon-boat racing, and other national heritage issues. Yet the debates reflect less dynastic rivalries, realities and traditions than they do post-dynastic imperialist distortions emanating from outside China and Korea. An obsession with origins and identities colours much of the debate, and Chinese paranoia about the refusal to recognise the status of Manchuria (always referred to as 'the north-east') as an integral part of China is triggered less by the expression of Korean territorial claims than by Japanese involvement in those claims and in the debate itself. The Chinese are clearly uncertain about the cultural heritage that unites, and will one day unite, the two Koreas.