海鹽腔之見於記載，早在戲文初成的南宋中晚葉，亦即寧宗時音樂家循王張鐵曾到海鹽，由他和他的家樂以唱腔提升過，又於元代中晚葉被海鹽人楊梓父子以唱腔提升過；其載體前者爲詞調或戲文，後者爲南北散曲或戲文。海鹽腔在明憲宗成化至世宗嘉靖間最爲盛行；其流行地有浙江之嘉興、湖州、溫州、臺州，江西之宜黃、南昌，江蘇之蘇州、松江，湖北之襄陽，安徽之徽州，以及山東之蘭陵，乃至於雲南永昌衛。由於其聲情清柔婉折，又向官話靠攏，故也流播兩京，爲士大夫所喜愛，每用於宴會中之戲文演出，伴奏則但用鑼鼓板等打擊樂而無管絃幫襯。此時的海鹽腔也出現了一些名演員，如金鳳、順妹、彩鳳、金娘子等，也有一些劇目如《鳴鳳記》、《玉環記》、《雙忠記》、《韓熙載夜宴》、《四節記》等。萬曆以後雖遺響猶存，但已逐漸被魏良輔等所創發的崑山水磨調所取而代之了。今日雖尚有蛛絲馬跡可尋，但不似水磨調之一脈薪火，綿延不絕。

The first recorded mention of the Haiyen qiang (海鹽腔) is found as early as the beginnings of the xiwen (戲文) genre during the middle to late period of the Northern Song dynasty, specifically during the reign of the Ningzong (寧宗) Emperor, when the musician Wang Zhang zi (張鎡) traveled to Haiyen and incorporated the local style into that of his own. During the Yuan dynasty, the Haiyen local Yang Zi (楊梓) and his son also reworked the local style. The first reworking took the form of cidiao (詞調) or xiwen (戲文), while the second took the form of the Northern and Southern sanqu (散曲) or xiwen. Between the reigns of the Ming emperors Xianzong (憲宗) and Shizong (世宗), the Haiyen qiang was highly popular, spreading to Jiaxing (嘉興), Huzhou (湖州), Wenzhou (溫州), Taizhou (臺州) in Zhejiang. Yihuang (宜黃) and Nanchang (南昌) in Jiangxi, Suzhou (蘇州) and Songjiang (松江) in Jiangsu, Xiangyang (襄陽) in Hubei, Huizhou (徽州) in Anhui, Lanling (蘭陵) in Shandong. and even as far as the Yongchang wei (永昌衛) in Yunnan. Given its soft and subtle quality and its proximity to the koine of the era, this style was enjoyed by members of the gentry in both Nanjing and Beijing. Performances in this style were common at banquets and used percussion instruments without any reed accompaniment. During this period, a number of famous performers in this style appeared. including Jinfeng (金鳳), Shunmei (順妹), Caifeng (彩鳳) Jinniangzi (金娘子), well as a number of works, such as Mingfeng ji (嗚鳳記), Yuhuan ji (玉環記), Shuangchung ji (雙忠記), Hanxicai yeyan (韓熙載夜宴), and Xijieji (四節記). After the Wanli (萬曆) Emperor's reign, this style could still be found; however, it was gradually being replaced by the Kunshan (崑山) shuimodiao (水磨調) developed by Wei Liangfu (魏良輔) and others. Even though there are some traces that have survived into the present, an uninterrupted line of descent, such as can be found for the shuimodiao, is not to be found for this style.