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Abstract Lin Shu, courtesy name Qinnan, was a Fujianese man of letters widely recognized for his translations of Western and Japanese novels into Literary Chinese. Following the steps of the renowned pioneer Yan Fu, a translator and friend involved in the introduction of scientific and philosophical ideas from the West, Lin Shu created a whole industry that, despite its specialization in Literary Chinese, was meant to shape and influence half a century of translation studies and scholars. This essay aims to present a new vision of the controversy between the classical language advocated by Lin Shu and the vernacular speech vindicated by Beijing University’s Chancellor Cai Yuanpei, which was collected in three open letters published in 1919.