War and Beauty (2004) poster
7.6
Your Rating: 0/10
Ratings: 7.6/10 from 333 users
# of Watchers: 806
Reviews: 2 users
Ranked #5055
Popularity #10078
Watchers 333

Fifteen years after Qing Emperor Ka Hing was crowned, the country appears to be in harmony. However, fights between the imperial concubines escalate. Beauty never lasts. All the imperial concubines, including the emperor's beloved Yu Fei understand this and become nervous when the triennial imperial concubine election approaches. Yu Fei's position is threatened by an imperial descendant Yuk Ying , a powerful eunuch's adopted daughter Yi Sun and an experienced imperial servant maid On Sin . They are friends and enemies in the war for the emperor's love. Yi Sun later falls for imperial physician, Bak Yeung who also stole the hearts of courtesan, Heung Fou Lady Fuk s well as his lonely wife but Bak Yeung only has eyes for Yuk Ying, the woman who loved him the least. When she is still a palace maid, On Sin falls for imperial guard, Hung Mou but the later keeps his distance from her when she becomes a Lady, the emperor's woman. Edit Translation

  • English
  • magyar / magyar nyelv
  • dansk
  • Norsk
  • Country: Hong Kong
  • Type: Drama
  • Episodes: 30
  • Aired: Aug 23, 2004 - Oct 2, 2004
  • Aired On: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
  • Original Network: TVB Jade
  • Duration: 45 min.
  • Score: 7.6 (scored by 333 users)
  • Ranked: #5055
  • Popularity: #10078
  • Content Rating: Not Yet Rated

Cast & Credits

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War and Beauty (2004) photo
War and Beauty (2004) photo
War and Beauty (2004) photo
War and Beauty (2004) photo
War and Beauty (2004) photo
War and Beauty (2004) photo

Reviews

Completed
nauticalsun
5 people found this review helpful
Oct 7, 2022
30 of 30 episodes seen
Completed 4
Overall 9.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 10

The Mother of All Concubine Scheming Palace Dramas

Truly a classic. I don't believe that Zhen Huan, Yanxi, and Ruyi deserve to be uttered in the same breath as this gem.

Maybe I'm exaggerating, but the last time I watched this in full was >10 years ago and I've seen quite a bit of palace dramas since. Nothing compares to just how wonderful the twists are here. At 30 episodes, the pacing is tight and I appreciate that it doesn't meander like the ultra-bloated aforementioned dramas. The emphasis on this drama is plot, plot, and more plot. This isn't 60 episodes of moving paintings like Yanxi or whatever. Just pure, scrumptious scheming and backstabbing.

Gigi Lai, Sheren Tang, and harem drama veteran Charmaine Sheh star as the archetypal pretty-and-spoiled neophyte, senior concubine villain, and sweet ingenue respectively. But do they really? W&B still has the best character writing among all the palace dramas I've seen across HK/Mainland/Korean dramas.

War and Beauty is genre-defining and a must-see for all palace drama enthusiasts

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Completed
Liz
4 people found this review helpful
May 12, 2015
30 of 30 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 9.0

This was such an intense drama honestly.

Story: This story was really good. There's a lot of rivalry in this and Gigi Lai's character is so desperate tbh. So basically to sum this story up, it's about concubines in the palace just battling each other to be the king's favorite. And then everything fails and falls apart.

Acting/Cast: Ok, Gigi's character is so annoying. Bowie Lam's character just pissed me off. Gigi basically used Bowie's love for her to promote herself and then in the end he still loves her and wants to die with her when she could careless about him like man really. So upsetting, but the actors themselves were phenomenal.

Music: Great music

Rewatch Value: Yes.

Overall: I recommend this drama to people who like historicals and want to watch these concubines pull evil tricks on each other. This drama did that quite well. Good portrayal of palace life as a concubine.

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Recommendations

Story of Yanxi Palace
Story of Yanxi Palace
Empresses in the Palace
The Heaven Sword & the Dragon Sabre
The Story of Ming Lan

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Details

  • Drama: War and Beauty
  • Country: Hong Kong
  • Episodes: 30
  • Aired: Aug 23, 2004 - Oct 2, 2004
  • Aired On: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
  • Original Network: TVB Jade
  • Duration: 45 min.
  • Content Rating: Not Yet Rated

Statistics

  • Score: 7.6 (scored by 333 users)
  • Ranked: #5055
  • Popularity: #10078
  • Watchers: 806

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