Recently, the "Foxi" tea latte and peripheral packaging jointly launched by Heytea and Jingdezhen Chinese Ceramics Museum were interviewed by the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs for suspected violations of the regulations on the management of religious affairs, and were removed from the shelves on December 3. From this point of view, Heytea's road of commercial promotion under the banner of spreading Buddhist culture and art is not going through.
HeyTea is a new tea brand with milk tea as its main product, and since its establishment in 2012, it has quickly won the favor of young consumers with its fashionable image and innovative taste. Heytea often cooperates with different brands or institutions to launch limited edition tea drinks and peripheral products to attract more customers and attention. On November 28th, Heytea and Jingdezhen Chinese Ceramics Museum jointly launched the "Foxi" tea latte and peripheral packaging, which is the first time that Heytea has cooperated with a national museum, and it is also the first time that Jingdezhen Chinese Ceramics Museum has cooperated with a tea brand. The outer packaging of this product adopts Buddhist **, symbols and patterns, as well as blue and white porcelain elements from Jingdezhen, aiming to show the charm of Buddhist culture and ceramic art.
Although there is a voice that believes that Heytea's practice is spreading Buddhist culture and art, the cooperation between Heytea and Jingdezhen Chinese Ceramics Museum is a cross-border innovation and attempt, a cultural and artistic exchange and collision, and a praise and tribute to Buddhism and ceramics. At the same time, the packaging of Heytea does not have any tampering and deformation of Buddhism's **, symbols and patterns, but maintains its original appearance and beauty, which is a kind of respect and awe for Buddhism. Therefore, Heytea's products can allow more people to contact and understand Buddhist culture and art, which is a kind of promotion and popularization of Buddhism.
However, the launch of this product was not recognized and welcomed by everyone, but caused some people's dissatisfaction and questions. Heytea's use of Buddhist **, symbols and patterns as commercial packaging is disrespectful and blasphemous to Buddhism, and it is also a violation of the "Regulations on the Administration of Religious Affairs", "Several Opinions on Further Governing the Commercialization of Buddhism and Taoism", "Measures for the Administration of Internet Religious Information Services" and other laws and regulations. These regulations clearly state that:Commercial propaganda in the name of religion is prohibitedIt is forbidden to use religious sites, religious activities, religious personnel, religious objects, religious symbols, etc. to conduct commercial activities, and it is prohibited to provide goods or services containing religious content on the Internet. Heytea's practice is undoubtedly misleading consumers, making consumers think that they can get the blessing and blessing of the Buddha by drinking this tea latte, which is a distorted and misleading interpretation of Buddhist teachings.
In response to the incident, staff from the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs said they had interviewed Heytea on December 1 and asked it to immediately stop selling and advertising suspected illegal products and make rectifications. Heytea also said that they had removed it from the shelves on December 3 and inspected the relevant situation. Heytea also said that their original intention was to show consumers the beauty of Buddhist culture and ceramic art through cooperation with the Jingdezhen Chinese Ceramics Museum, without any disrespectful and commercial intentions, and they apologized for the controversy and misunderstanding caused, and said that they would strengthen the study and Xi and compliance with the regulations to avoid similar problems from happening again.
This incident is related to the relationship between religion and business, and also reflects the current situation and challenges in the management of religious affairs. We hope that the Hey Tea incident can become an opportunity for us to pay more attention to the management of religious affairs, to have more respect and understanding of religious culture and art, and to share this diverse world in a more harmonious and inclusive way.
Heytea was interviewed on suspicion of violating religious affairs regulations