Digital empathy and performance reconstruction: reconfiguring Chinese theater in the age of intelligent media from a posthumanist perspective: with special reference to xiqu heritage and contemporary experimental performance

The rapid advancement of intelligent and digital technologies is transforming contemporary Chinese theater. From a posthumanist perspective, this article examines how smart stage infrastructures, algorithmic improvisation, and digital revival projects reconfigure theatrical subjectivity from an anthropocentric model toward a distributed ‘bio–techno–social’ network. Analyzing cases across two domains – xiqu heritage (Digital Mei Lanfang, Serpentine Elegy) and experimental theater (The Metamorphosis, Tale of Three Cities) – three core transformations emerge: performative agency shifts toward human–machine hybrids; sensory and spatial perception is recoded through interactive systems; and stylized conventions (chengshi) are redefined through algorithmic co-creation. Xiqu cases reveal tensions between innovation and heritage preservation, while non-xiqu examples play a supplementary role. These shifts raise questions of digital empathy – how emotional engagement is mediated or eroded by technology. Intelligent systems generate high-fidelity reproductions but risk diminishing the ineffable qualities that foster empathetic bonds. Conflicts emerge between algorithmic authority and mentorship, and between global standards and cultural specificity. The article proposes a techno-humanist framework balancing innovation with cultural rootedness through ethically embedded design. Integrating posthumanist theory with empirical cases, this research contributes to the discourse on digital empathy and offers insights into heritage preservation within the global digital ecology.