Taiwan historian Chang Heng-hao, noting that Taiwan's New Literature Movement began in 1920, says that Lai Ho was a pioneer who "turned over the first spade of dirt, and planted the first seed."
台灣史學者張恆豪指出，台灣新文學運動發軔於一九二○年代，賴和是「揮下第一鋤，撒下第一粒種籽」的先驅。