How much is a human life really worth?  Is the life of a youth worth more than that of an elderly person?  Is the life of a peasant equal in value, say, to that of a youth who has a college degree and has his life before him?  That question was debated in China, when an old peasant fell into a night-soil pit, and a twenty-four-year-old medical student, Zhang Hua, seeing his distress, waded into the pit to save the old man.