Luo Chia-lun has noted, "Among the Beida students at that time, there were many who could not write classical Chinese or could not read it well who praised the new literature. At the same time, there were very few who were good at reading and writing classical Chinese who praised the new literature.
羅家倫曾經提到，「當時在北京大學學生中，文言文寫得不通或不好而贊成新文學的很多，文言文寫得很通很好而贊成新文學的很少，傅先生（傅斯年）便是後一類中的一位。」