Even under the ban on Chinese folk opera that was imposed by the Japanese authorities in 1937, the simple requirements of these troupes allowed them to carry on performing in the countryside as enthusiastically as before.
即使是民國廿六年日本政府厲行「皇民化」政策，禁止一切民間戲曲演出。老歌仔在不幸的時代背景下，因簡單的演出形式易於化明為暗，反倒在鄉野熱鬧唱演、弦音不輟。