Upon his death, Ashoka's heirs quickly undid his reforms, and to this day he remains the only historically important ruler in all of human history to come close to creating a state that protects and nurtures all who live at its mercy. Still, Ashoka was not without influence in the Buddhist world, especially in China, where several rulers in the seventh and eighth centuries emulated him by restricting hunting and meat-eating.
---The Great Compassion: Buddhism and Animal Rights, by Norm Phelps---
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