Nantan DAO Chronicles (Part One)

Birth

The democratic gene of Nantang

In 2025, the topic "How DAO tools can support cooperatives" was first proposed as an academic subject in the wishlist of the Ethereum Foundation's academic funding program. While researchers around the world are gearing up to tackle this question, a makeshift group of young people and villagers in a "regular" rural area of China has already begun to find solutions - in August 2024, Nantung DAO was officially established.

What魅力 does this village have that can attract so many Web3 elements to gather here? From the renowned farmers' rights organization to the first localized practice of "Robert's Rules of Order," the seeds of democratic governance have long been sown here.

In the 1990s, Yang Yunbiao, who had just graduated from Northwest University of Political Science and Law, went to Beijing on behalf of the villagers to lodge a complaint, but faced various criticisms, threats, and even illegal detention. In this context, the local villagers believed that only by establishing their own organization could they change the rural situation. Thus, the "Farmers' Rights Protection Association" was born. In 2004, at the initiative of the renowned agricultural expert Wen Tiejun, the village prepared to establish the "Nantang Agricultural Cooperative," marking a gradual shift of the local main goal from confrontational rights protection struggles to organizational development and construction.

In 2008, the "Robert's Rules of Order," a classic Western parliamentary procedure, took root in rural China for the first time. The key figure driving this change was Yuan Tianpeng, a returnee who personally experienced parliamentary procedures while studying at the University of Alaska. After returning to China, he dedicated himself to the localization practice of parliamentary rules. Here, through repeated discussions and trial-and-error with the villagers, they finally refined the "Nantang Thirteen Articles" that were suited to local realities after several months.

established the Nantang DAO

Speaking of connecting cooperatives with Web3, one person must be mentioned - Liu Bing. In 2011, Liu Bing accidentally learned about the case of democratic practice in Nantang Village online. Curious about the local "radish and cabbage rules", he went to Nantang alone to become a volunteer. After achieving financial freedom, Liu Bing began to give back to Nantang, initially donating Ether directly to the Nantang cooperative and trying to educate the cooperative members about blockchain technology, digital wallets, and other new concepts, but the results were not ideal.

Through the connections made by Liu Bing, Gu Yi, and Wang Debin, in 2023, the head of the cooperative, Yang Yunbiao, had an in-depth conversation with Bai Yu, the founder of SeeDAO. Both parties began to realize that the combination of Web3 and rural areas could not only attract more young talent and business resources but also bring some new possibilities to the cooperatives that are deeply mired in debt crisis.

In June 2024, with the introduction and sponsorship of Liu Bing, partners from the Nantang Cooperative in Fuyang, Anhui, stepped into the world of Web3 for the first time. Soon, Li Zi from SeeDAO and Yu Xing and Tiao from LXDAO arrived as the first village residents in Nantang to initiate this special practice. On July 28, 2024, the first proposal of Nantang DAO, written by Yu Xing, was released, marking the official operation of this innovative organization aimed at integrating Web3 technology with rural governance; one month later, the establishment proposal of Nantang DAO was approved by LXDAO, marking the formal establishment of a deep cooperative relationship between Nantang DAO and LXDAO, and simultaneously confirming its status as an independent operating entity.

Gathering and Conflict

Gathering: Nan Tang DAO Seven Elders

With the support of Liu Bing's Web3 incentive program, the news quickly spread across different online DAO communities, and more partners gradually arrived in Nantang, including Bi Bing, who later became a core member of Nantang DAO. Thus, a rural DAO consisting of seven initial members was formed. The "Seven Elders" come from diverse backgrounds; some are practitioners from other DAOs, some are Web3 programmers, some are graduate students, and others are villagers born and raised in Nantang. Looking across China, it was probably difficult to find such a down-to-earth DAO team at that time.

Yu Xing is the first resident member of the Nantan DAO. When talking about his connection with Nantan, he believes that this land, which carries the practice of farmers' rights protection organizations and the exploration of Robert's Rules of Order, contains the characteristics of "pioneering social exploration" in its historical accumulation, providing a unique soil for Web3's involvement in rural construction. However, in the face of reality, he candidly states that there are significant barriers of information asymmetry in rural areas, and thus, "only by putting people in can there be things to do."

Tiao is the second core member to arrive at Nantang after Yu Xing. As a devoted fan of American anthropologist David Graeber, he was deeply attracted to this bottom-up organizational approach when he first encountered the concept of DAO. Before coming to Nantang, he had already worked at LXDAO for a year, and it was not until that unexpected encounter at the Shanghai event that he formed a wonderful bond with the Nantang partners.

Bibi is a senior developer in the Web3 field. Growing up in the countryside, Bibi has always maintained a special affection for his hometown. When he saw the unprecedented idea of "combining rural development with Web3," his inner passion was instantly ignited. He believes that promoting the application of DAO in rural areas can at least open up new ideas for the struggling rural development efforts and bring about the possibility of change. In his own words - "Any change is better than no change."

Conflict: Two groups of people with vastly different backgrounds

The collectivist culture of rural Chinese society, rooted in the traditions of agricultural village communities, emphasizes group cooperation and common welfare. In contrast, the governance logic of DAO advocates for individual rationality and autonomous decision-making, building trust mechanisms through the transparency and traceability of blockchain. When these two fundamentally different governance cultures and logics meet, conflicts and contradictions are almost inevitable.

In early 2025, Nantang Agricultural Cooperative publicly launched the "Nantang Youth Intern Program", marking the third recruitment since the program started in March 2024. Unlike previous sessions, this time the learning content includes not only ecological agriculture and zero-pollution village construction, the operation of the Earth Library, and community cultural development, but also places a prominent emphasis on learning the fundamental principles and tools of Web3, as well as participating in the Nantang DAO.

As time passed, the conflicts among everyone became increasingly irreconcilable, rationality was gradually defeated by emotions, and discussions always evolved into endless quarrels. The Nantung DAO, which once united ideals, has reached a crossroads for the first time.

The third option: Nantan does not know DAO

It was around the winter of 2024 when the interns were turned away by the Nantang DAO due to "lack of Web3 experience." Jump, along with members of the cooperative such as Yanren and Shuhui, quickly hit it off and decided to create a new DAO. They ironically named it — "Nantang Doesn't Know DAO," and set up a new organizational space on Notion.

Nantang Wuzhi DAO, although established with an ironic and critical stance, objectively provides local members with a third option between cooperatives and Nantang DAO. When discussing the relationship with Nantang DAO, Tiao intriguingly said: "We hope the existence of Wuzhi DAO can force them to change, creating a sense of crisis that pushes them to do better." When asked what differentiates them from Nantang DAO, which also aims at rural development, Shuhui candidly stated: "We refuse to be a DAO just for the sake of being a DAO; instead, we focus on those 'things that can be done but haven't been done' that delve into the lives of villagers." In April 2025, Nantang Wuzhi DAO elaborated on its organizational philosophy and vision through a public account article titled "Finding the True Meaning of Life in the Alienation of Labor in the Urban Tide." They proposed visions such as "Decentralization is just a means, not an end" and "Let rural construction be better rural construction," and committed not to forcibly require members to bind with Web3 technology, but rather to empower local youth and more young people to help them realize their own value.