The governments both of mainland China and of Taiwan have turned their ‘civilisation’ into a national heritage or tradition. But civilisation was transmitted before without its being a ‘tradition’ (chuantong) or a material and non-material heritage in the UNESCO-speak that prevails. Sinocentric views of civilisation now speak a language of national pride and exaggerate longevity and continuity, just as do Eurocentric and other nationalist views of their civilisations.