A former editor of China Daily limped into my office the other day. He told me he slipped and fell on an icy street in early March, after one of the many snowstorms that graced Beijing this winter.

"No one came to my rescue," he said ruefully. "They were afraid I'd blame them for my fall."

His story has become a familiar one, unfortunately. On Monday, Wang Yi, a reporter from Yantai Media Group, got a phone call from a Mrs Liu, saying that an elderly woman had fallen on the ground. "She has tried to get up by herself, holding onto something with one hand and supporting her body with the other, but she can't do it," Mrs Liu said.

Many people passed by, but no one stopped. Onlookers stood around as the elderly woman struggled to stand up. Mrs Liu wanted to lend a helping hand, but her colleague stopped her, saying that Liu would get herself into trouble if the elderly woman accused her of causing her to fall. "What if she is suffering from a stroke?" one onlooker said.

In the end, Mrs Liu called the police, who came to the scene, helped the elderly woman to her feet, and sent her home in a patrol car.

Until a few years ago, it would have been considered shameful even to hesitate to help an elderly citizen after a fall. Such a simple act of care and compassion was considered the duty of every citizen.

Throughout Chinese history, philosophers and men of letters have always promoted altruism. Ancient philosopher Mozi (468-376 BC) taught his students to perform deeds that would benefit others, but to stop when their acts no longer helped people.

In modern China, Mao Zedong called on us all to learn from Lei Feng, a young soldier who became a national hero because he was always ready to help others. Now, nearly 40 years after the death of Lei Feng in an accident, many people have become cautious about lending a helping hand. Their natural compassion was severely compromised by a local court ruling three years ago.

In late 2006, a lawsuit was filed in Nanjing on behalf of an elderly woman named Xu against Peng Yu, an IT technician in his 20s. The plaintiff accused Peng of running into her and causing her to fall to the ground. She demanded that Peng pay her medical expenses as compensation.

According to an eyewitness, Peng went over to help Xu only after she had fallen. He helped take Xu to the hospital and forked over 200 yuan so that Xu could get immediate medical treatment.

Despite the testimony of this eyewitness, the presiding judge surmised that Peng wouldn't have gone out of his way to help Xu if he hadn't been the one who caused her to fall. The judge ordered Peng to pay 40 percent of Xu's medical expenses, which came to 45,976 yuan.

Although Peng won on appeal and the plaintiff subsequently dropped the lawsuit, the initial court ruling made an indelible impression on many would-be Samaritans. As the ancient Chinese proverb says, people will fear a piece of rope for at least 10 years after they have been bitten by a snake.

Two recent online surveys found that more than 55 percent of those responding either would not help a stranger or would wait to see how things developed. My former boss told me he had learned a lesson: he should have called out for help, but only after announcing that he had fallen on his own.

I hope our society will soon forget the unfortunate case of Peng Yu and once again learn from Lei Feng. In the meantime, the government and the judiciary can help by providing a legal framework to protect Good Samaritans.

E-mail: lixing@chinadaily.com.cn