Negotiating Tradition and Innovation: Digital Heritage Practices and Cultural Sustainability of Suzhou Pingtan in Contemporary China

As a traditional Chinese narrative-singing art, Suzhou Pingtan is encountering growing challenges of preservation and renewal due to population aging and technological shifts. The Pingtan community’s heritage inheritance and cultural identity are being impacted by the digital transformation, underscoring the conflict between cultural preservation and adaptable solutions. Using qualitative field observations, interviews with heritage practitioners and stakeholders, and document analysis, this study argues that online platforms have expanded access to heritage, involving the younger generation and offering economic opportunities. Traditional performances and digital media with an entertainment focus are deeply at odds because of concerns about digital literacy and language authenticity. The “Traditional Music Ecosystem Model in Digital Transformation,” which is put forth in this article, sees cultural sustainability as dynamic adaptation as opposed to static preservation. For sustainable heritage development, digital platforms, practitioner communities, and cultural institutions must have a strategic relationship. Through the application of research findings to globally endangered cultural practices, this study contributes to the theoretical understanding of heritage sustainability in the digital media environment.