The Chinese, in following the track of their forefathers, had forgotten the reasons by which the latter had been guided.

They still used the formula, without asking for its meaning: they retained the instrument, but they no longer possessed the art of altering or renewing it.

The Chinese, then, had lost the power of change; for them to improve was impossible.

They were compelled, at all times and in all points, to imitate their predecessors, lest they should stray into utter darkness, by deviating for an instant from the path already laid down for them.

The source of human knowledge was all but dry; and though the stream still ran on, it could neither swell its waters nor alter its channel.