The single-string performance form was originally popular among the Manchus in Beijing during the Qianlong and Jiaqing years of the Qing Dynasty. A form of singing that entertains oneself and others. The earliest single-string music lyrics are "Drunkard" in the third volume of "Baixue Yiyin" compiled by Hua Guangsheng in the ninth year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty (1804).

Around the sixth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1880), Si Ruixuan, a disciple of banner nationality, composed his own music and lyrics, played and sang in teahouses. Since then, Danxian has spread as an independent genre.

After nearly a hundred years of practice, Danxian has evolved from a single cha tune into three types of tunes: Zaoheer, Yaojie and Paizi. Finally, in the late Qing Dynasty, it evolved into Danxian Paizi, a combination of rap and rap. song. The length has also changed from singing short sections to continuous rapping in the middle. Generally, each piece is divided into four to six sections, and each section lasts about thirty to forty minutes. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, many danxian enthusiasts went to sea to perform, and many famous singers appeared, which were very popular with the masses. Among them, there are those who are good at singing timely tunes, and some who are good at singing Kungao tunes. Most of these tunes are included in the single-string singing tunes, which increases the number of single-string singing tunes and enhances their expressiveness. There are more than one hundred single-string singing tunes known. This period was the heyday of the development of Shanxian art. Many famous artists have developed their own distinctive singing styles. The four most famous schools are Rong, Chang, Xie and Tan.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the art of single-string music has been further developed. Du Peng, as a representative, has created a large number of single-string music lyrics that reflect real life, such as "Urban and Rural Music" and so on. Cao Baolu, Shi Huiru, Zhao Yuming, Ma Zenghui and other famous people. In addition, Danxian has made changes in singing music and performance forms, such as adding male and female duets, Danxian brand song joint singing, performance singing, etc.

After the 1980s, the activities of single-string enthusiasts flourished again.

In 2006, Danxian was listed as the first batch of Beijing municipal intangible cultural heritage.

In 2008, it entered the national intangible cultural heritage list, and Zhang Yunhua, a national first-class actor, became the inheritor of this project.