In the 1970s, when Yang Hsu-hsien, then still at the Historical Research Commission, got wind of this story, he became extraordinarily curious about the contents of this family history. He visited the Nien clan in Lukang many times, but all of his requests to borrow the genealogy were refused.
民國六十年間，當時身為文獻會編纂的楊緒賢知道此事時，非常好奇這份族譜的記載，他幾度拜訪鹿港粘家，請求借閱此譜，都被拒絕。