Lin Jui-ming points out that in 1919 and 1920, Lai Ho served as a medical officer in the Po Ai Hospital in Xiamen. That happened to be the peak of the May Fourth Movement and anti-Japanese sentiment. After returning from Xiamen, Lai wrote continuously, in the vernacular, in a notebook made for writing traditional poetry. You can see that he was greatly affected by the May Fourth Movement.
林瑞明指出，一九一九到二○年間，賴和至廈門博愛醫院任職醫官，當時正逢五四運動高潮，也是中國反日運動最激烈的時候，賴和從廈門回來後，在傳統詩稿本中，不斷以白話詩來習作，顯見他從五四運動中已汲取養分。