At that time, Lin Chinnan--who called himself a "Qing court juren" --led the opposition to Tsai's reforms of Beida. He publicly issued a statement criticizing the university for "overturning the classics and burying ethical traditions," and for "eradicating the old books and using the vernacular for writing."
當時反對蔡元培改革北大的急先鋒就是自稱「清室舉人」的林琴南，他公開發表「致蔡鶴卿太史書」，指摘北大「覆孔孟、剷倫常」、「盡廢古書，行用土語為文字」。