Her role as a scheming consort in the 2004 imperial palace TVB drama War and Beauty — one she reprised in its 2013 sequel Beauty at War — made Sheren Tang Shui-man the queen of Chinese-language television drama.

Critics lauded the Hong Kong actress, now 54, for her portrayal of a complex character who was neither a heroine nor a villain. Her performance as Consort Yu, one of Jiaqing Emperor’s concubines, was loved by viewers in the city and in China.