This is not a particularly difficult task, but it is time consuming and extremely complex because there were no standard editions of the repertoires performed by folk opera troupes, and a tradition of oral transmission inevitably results in textual discrepancies and variants. The old artistes are usually illiterate and are often on the verge of senility, so they frequently do not understand the words they are singing themselves!
這樣的工作並不難，但卻花時間又繁瑣，因為昔日歌仔戲演出並無劇本，口傳心授下，唱詞不免各不相同；加上老藝人多不識字，年紀也大了，經常念出連自己也不懂意思的文句，真是急煞一旁的陳健銘。