Wenwen Han: “Duanju are the digital heritage of Chinese folk literature” [video]

On June 14, 2025, during the second public screening evening organized by Studio Phocéen association in Paris on the Duanju, Chinese producer Wenwen Han opened the videoconference with a striking intervention. Founder of the Short Drama Alliance and host of the Short Drama Decode channel, she shared a rich and documented presentation on the rise of short fiction in China.

A culture of accelerated soap operas

Wenwen Han places the duanju format within a long history: that of Chinese online novels, which appeared in the 1990s and were published chapter by chapter, sometimes in thousands of episodes. As these stories captivated an ever-growing readership, an economic system emerged: readers paid to unlock the next chapter. From this emerged a culture of fast-paced soap operas, poised to transition to video.

“Mini-dramas are like an audiovisual beta version of our online novels.”

Wenwen Han's talk offered the audience a behind-the-scenes look at this booming industry. She emphasized the role of screenwriters, who are often invisible, and the importance of connecting creators from around the world to grow this format. By launching the Short Drama Alliance , she hopes to open a dialogue between countries that are already ahead of the curve, like China, and those that are just discovering it, like France.

“Vertical fiction is a new language, and now is the time to learn it.”

Check out his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ShortDramaDecode

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