Chen described the ethos of Youth Magazine in a piece entitled "A Warning to Young People" published in its inaugural issue. Drawing on the Western thought he had absorbed while studying in Japan, Chen made six demands of young people in the piece:
在《青年》的發刊詞上，早年留學日本吸收西方新思想的陳獨秀，寫下了〈敬告青年〉6 大訴求：