Zidishu is a type of Quyi art that came into being in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). This form of Quyi art got the name of Zidishu because it was initiated by the Baqi Zidi (the Eight Banner of the Manchu nationality in the Qing Dynasty).

Zidishu was derived from Wuge (songs sung during worship) and Suqu (popular songs of the time). It laid stress on lyrics while paid less attention to performance in the early days and the descant of Zidishu was relatively simple. During the Jiaqing reign (1796-1821), the art was introduced into communities of ordinary people and professional artists became to emerge, most of whom were blind.

The descant of Zidishu had two categories of Dongchengdiao (Descant in Eastern City) and Xichengdiao (Descant in Western City) on the early stage due to different styles and arias. The descant of Dongchengdiao was rough and serious and its contents were mainly history stories, while the descant of Xichengdiao was slow and gentle and its contents were mainly love stories.

Around 1850, another two genres emerged -- Nanchengdiao (Descant in Southern City) and Beichengdiao (Descant in Northern City), which both had fluent descant and cheerful time. By the early 20th Century, the art of Zidishu declined, but most features of its works were adopted by Dagushu, which came into being later, and descant of Zidishu also had some influence on Dagushu.