On January 15th, the TV series "Window with a View" topped the prime time ratings chart with an average rating of 2.772% upon its premiere. However, what is more noteworthy than the viewership data is another identity of this drama - the first "Chinese drama" in the country to obtain distribution permission. This somewhat unfamiliar term is becoming a new focus in the Chinese television industry. The so-called "Zhongju" refers to a series format with a single episode lasting 20 minutes and a total of 12 to 24 episodes. In 2025, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television will for the first time list the category of "medium drama" in its filing announcement, clarifying the boundary and naming method for this new form between long dramas and short dramas. With the landing of the first work and more projects entering the record, a new genre of drama is emerging, quietly rewriting the ecological map of Chinese drama. The imbalance between the two ends of the industry has given rise to a new form of "drama" in the middle, which has been pushed to the forefront by chance. For a long time, the film and television industry has faced problems such as the number of episodes is too high, the pace is too slow, and the narrative is watered down. Many drama chasing parties have complained on the social platform that "long dramas are often 40 or 50 episodes, and the watered down stories force people to speed up the whole process". At the same time, although micro dramas have risen to prominence with an annual market size of 50.4 billion yuan, quickly seizing the sinking market with strong stimulation and fast pace, they are also more likely to fall into a vicious cycle of "strong reversal and weak narrative". Netizens bluntly state that "watching too much is all a routine, like the same set of flowing water, leaving no aftertaste except for the" pleasure "point, purely" electronic pickled vegetables ". When the" endless time "of long dramas and the" depth "of micro dramas become pain points in the industry, the structural gap between long and short becomes prominent. Zhou Kui, Director of the Research Department at the Network Video Research Center of the Communication University of China, said, "The industry urgently needs to break through the bottleneck of the development of long and short videos, and 'Zhongju' is an innovative attempt based on this reality. In 2025, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television issued the "Several Measures to Further Enrich the Content of TV Large Screen and Promote the Supply of Audiovisual Content in Radio and Television", known as the "21 Measures for Radio and Television" in the industry, which clearly encourages innovation in the form of TV dramas. Subsequently, the Television Drama Department of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television held a series of symposiums to provide direction guidance for the exploration of "small and medium-sized" TV dramas, and listed the category of "medium dramas" in the filing announcement. This means that 'Zhongju' has gained official recognition and become a new product category with clear boundaries and unique positioning. In the view of Cao Zhi, Director of the Application Promotion Department of the Radio, Film and Television Information Network Center of the State Administration of Radio and Television, "the creative logic of 'Zhongju' that adapts to the needs of the times and the demands of the audience has become an important achievement in industry exploration, and has injected new vitality into the high-quality development of Chinese drama." In fragmented times, audiences still want 'complete stories'. In fragmented times, audiences' attention resources are increasingly scarce, but they have not given up their desire for a complete narrative. This seemingly contradictory but actually reasonable demand is becoming increasingly clear: to not only read a complete story within a limited time, but also to gain sufficient emotional resonance and thinking space. The volume design of episodes 12 to 24 of the Chinese drama perfectly responds to this demand, making it a reality to "finish a drama on weekends". It respects the fragmented time status of modern people and meets the psychological expectations of the audience for a complete narrative experience. For Chen Yue, who works for an Internet company in Beijing, she is used to chasing two dramas with her mobile phone during the short break on the commute subway and lunch break on weekdays. By the end of the week, she will spend two hours to complete the remaining dramas. "It is very comfortable not to remember the long dramas for several days, nor forget the short dramas after watching them." Liu Yongchang, a professor of the School of Journalism and Communication of Nanjing Normal University, revealed the core of the current mainstream drama watching psychology: "'Catching up with one breath' is becoming the mainstream drama watching psychology. The audience hopes to get a complete story experience in a relatively concentrated period of time, rather than gradually losing enthusiasm in a long update cycle.." Taking a typical "Chinese drama" with a single episode of 15 minutes, a total of 12 episodes, and a total duration of about 180 minutes as an example, its length advantage is particularly prominent: compared to the limited length of 90-120 minutes in movies, it has more space to depict character arcs, avoiding the flattening of images caused by too fast pace; At the same time, compared to the lengthy update cycle of long dramas, it fundamentally eliminates the drawbacks of "water injection" caused by the dragging of subplots and redundant plots, ultimately achieving a delicate balance between narrative efficiency and depth. The impressive performance of the market further confirms the high adaptability of the new form of "Chinese drama" to the needs of the audience. Before the concept of "Zhongju" was officially named, a group of works with its own volume characteristics had already broken through: the first season of "Zhuque Tang", with a single episode of 15 to 20 minutes and a total of 30 episodes, achieved over 500 million views, proving the market potential of combining compact volume and high-quality content with data. Now, "Zhu Que Tang 2" has completed its registration as a "Chinese drama". This classification adjustment from "short" to "medium" is not only a re evaluation of its content quality, but also confirms the dual rationality of the "Chinese drama" form in terms of narrative logic and market value. The birth of a new genre of drama, from product to ecology, opens up imaginative space for going global. Its profound significance goes beyond the innovation of a single product form, and lies in reconstructing the industry ecology, opening up narrative blue oceans, and building bridges for cultural going global, achieving systematic expansion from structure to value. From an industrial logic perspective, in the view of Associate Professor He Tianping from the School of Journalism at Renmin University of China, "Zhongju" has opened up a production path with controllable risks and higher efficiency. Long dramas often require billions of investments and production cycles lasting several years, which means high risks and slow response times; Although micro dramas are lightweight and flexible, they are often limited by cost and difficult to ensure production quality. The moderate investment volume of "Zhongju" enables the budget to be accurately allocated to the core creative process; A controllable production cycle enables projects to respond more quickly to market changes. Based on the dimension of cultural dissemination, the volume and quality of "Zhongju" seamlessly integrate with the mainstream demands of global streaming platforms, significantly reducing the transaction costs of international collaboration and copyright procurement. Professor Deng Xiujun from Beijing Foreign Studies University added, "The deeper value of 'Zhongju' lies in providing a highly compatible 'cultural translator' for 'Chinese stories', transforming complex concepts such as Eastern philosophy and family ethics into strong plot conflicts and fast-paced viewing experiences.' This' type as skin, culture as core 'form facilitates cross-cultural understanding and has the potential to become a high-quality blueprint for international co production and IP adaptation, occupying a new position of flexibility and depth in cultural output and global industrial cooperation. The naming of 'Zhongju' is just the starting point. Whether it can stand firm or not depends not on the duration, but on the content and methods: if it is only a short drama that is stretched or a long drama that is compressed, the category will quickly homogenize. The industry needs to establish a matching evaluation system - not only based on playback ratings, but also on "quality indicators" such as narrative density, completion rate, reputation, and repeat viewing rate. 'Zhongju' is not a replacement for tradition, but rather a narrative scale that provides a more contemporary rhythm for Chinese dramas between long and short. (New Society)