历史小径·世界史英语30篇（5）
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The Edicts of Ashoka: Dharma in Stone
阿育王诏书：镌刻于石的正法
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After the bloody Kalinga War in 261 BCE, Emperor Ashoka of India renounced violence and embraced Buddhist ethics.
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He ordered more than thirty rock and pillar edicts to be inscribed across his vast Mauryan Empire.
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These messages promoted compassion, tolerance, nonviolence, and respect for all living beings without religious exclusion.
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Officials called 'Dhamma Mahamatras' traveled widely to explain the edicts and resolve local disputes fairly.
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Unlike earlier royal proclamations, Ashoka’s texts addressed common people directly in regional languages like Prakrit.
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His pillars featured polished sandstone and crowned with lion sculptures symbolizing courage and righteous rule.
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The edicts also described welfare measures such as roadside trees, wells, and medical care for humans and animals.
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Though the Mauryan Empire declined soon after Ashoka’s death, his moral vision endured in South and Southeast Asia.
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Scholars consider these inscriptions among the earliest surviving state-sponsored ethical declarations in world history.
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They reveal how rulers once used public writing not just for power—but for moral education and social harmony.