Expansion of "Divine Thread" Resale Business After Tianya Forum Closure, with Monthly Earnings Exceeding Thousands of Yuan

Closure and Reopening of Tianya Forum

The once-dominant online community Tianya Forum, which occupied “half” of China’s internet space, was shut down in April 2023. The closure was the result of years of debt compounded by several poor management decisions. On June 1, 2026, the Tianya community reopened, but it was clear it had fallen behind the times.

During the gap between its closure and reopening, a peculiar business emerged. This involved packaging and reselling the forum’s most popular threads from over 20 years—commonly referred to as “Tianya Divine Threads”—in electronic file formats.

What Are Tianya Divine Threads?

“Divine Threads” is a colloquial term for threads on Tianya Forum that garnered exceptional popularity. Their content ranged widely, including history, humanities, urban legends, relationship advice, and economic predictions.

Tianya’s ability to generate such high-quality content was rooted in its historical context. Founded in 1998 as a stock investment forum, Tianya attracted users who were interested in both the internet and stock investment. At that time, owning a computer and internet connection while being interested in investments indicated a certain level of economic stability and education.

Legendary Prophecy Threads That Transcended Time

The reputation of Tianya Divine Threads was solidified by the presence of prophecy threads that transcended their era.

One notable example is a thread by user “KKndme” in 2010, analyzing the real estate market from historical and political perspectives. The thread predicted skyrocketing housing prices and increased burdens from mortgage loans. Its sharp analysis is considered so politically sensitive that it is difficult to discuss openly in today’s China.

Another famous example comes from user “Xue Liang Jun Dao,” who predicted in 2005 that China’s total GDP would surpass Japan’s by 2030. At the time, this seemed far-fetched, as the era was still four years away from the launch of the first smartphone. Yet the prediction became reality. Xue Liang Jun Dao later passed away from cancer, adding a legendary aura to his forecasts.

Structure and Evolution of the Resale Business

Initially, Tianya Divine Thread collections were curated and freely shared by users on programmer-focused forums. However, within just a month, opportunists identified a business opportunity, creating a mature monetization model.

The mechanism works as follows: sellers share a small portion of the Divine Threads’ content—less than one-tenth according to reports—on short video and content platforms. Interested users are then directed to WeChat or Quark cloud storage. On WeChat, the content is sold directly, while on Quark, sellers earn referral commissions.

This approach has spread across multiple platforms, including Bilibili, TikTok, Zhihu, and RED (Xiaohongshu). Accounts claiming names like “Tianya Archivist” garner thousands to tens of thousands of likes.

Price Decline and Market Saturation

The influx of sellers has led to a steep drop in prices. Collections initially priced at around 20 yuan (approximately $3 USD) have fallen to less than 2 yuan (approximately $0.30 USD) due to intense competition. Searching for “Tianya Divine Threads” on Taobao or Xianyu (Idle Fish) reveals countless sellers vying for attention.

Despite the price crash, the market persists. The article attributes this to the existence of buyers who prefer convenience over effort, as they avoid the time and labor required to gather resources on their own. These buyers continue to choose inexpensive purchases over the hassle of self-research.

The Reality and Limitations of Divine Threads

The article offers a sober analysis of the content within the Divine Threads. Aside from some high-quality entries, many threads face significant issues.

Firstly, the perspectives are outdated and fail to resonate with the realities of 2026. Analyses written in the 2000s cannot automatically apply to today’s conditions. Secondly, some threads include superstition and pseudo-history. Lastly, there are even threads containing fabricated “prophecies” created more recently.

Even notable Divine Threads are not flawless. For instance, KKndme’s population predictions have been disproven, according to the article. Many hastily produced, low-quality threads have flooded the market alongside genuine gems.

The Essence of Speculation

The article draws parallels between this phenomenon and the American Gold Rush. In the early stages, genuinely valuable content attracted users. Over time, merchants selling “tools to mine gold” emerged, inflating the bubble. Eventually, the bubble burst, leading to a price crash—a historical pattern that has repeated many times.

The article also delivers a sharp critique: if Tianya’s Divine Threads represent the spirit of the old internet, then these resellers embody the spirit of the new internet era. The contradiction between the old internet’s legacy being commodified under the logic of the new internet encapsulates the essence of this phenomenon.

The Proper Way to Preserve Content

In its conclusion, the article shifts to the topic of preserving internet content, framing it as a historical human desire.

It cites the Internet Archive, a U.S.-based nonprofit digital library, as an exemplary case. The organization crawls and preserves websites globally, making many defunct sites still accessible. Just as enthusiasts preserve discontinued online games, the value of old internet content should be safeguarded through public archival efforts rather than speculative marketing, according to the article.

The resale of Tianya Divine Threads reflects the intersection of nostalgia and speculation in the internet age. From the forum’s closure in 2023 to its reopening in 2026, and the ongoing resale market—it remains to be seen how this phenomenon will ultimately unfold.