Because at that time Beida's humanities departments were dominated by conservative old professors, the work of reforming the university began with the humanities. Tsai hired a group of young scholars, still in their 20s. "The literary revolution and the attitude of freedom of thought steadily spread."
由於北大文科頑固守舊的教師較多，因此整頓工作從文科開始，延攬了陳獨秀、胡適、劉半農、魯迅、周作人等一批三十歲不到、朝氣蓬勃的新青年，「文學革命、思想自由的風氣，遂大流行」。