As the old Chinese saying goes, "beautiful women suffer unhappy fates." Lin Daiyu is so, and her impersonator Chen Xiaoxu re-acted the play in her real life.

Chen Xiaoxu, former Chinese actress and business celebrity, who took the tonsure at a Buddhist temple in Changchun, in northeast China in February, died of breast carcinoma at the age of 42 last Sunday in Shenzhen in South China, her relatives and friends confirmed yesterday, People's Daily Website reported.

According to the website, a friend of Chen's Master of the temple and the manager of her former broker agency also confirmed her death.

Fans will pay a last tribute to Chen on Friday.

Chen Xiaoxu became a household name in China in the 1980s after being cast the lead role as Lin Daiyu in the TV play "Dream of the Red Mansion", an adaptation of the Chinese Qing Dynasty literary classic of the same name written by Cao Xueqin.

In the play, Lin Daiyu is an introverted and sensitive well-bred girl; in real life, Chen Xiaoxu acted her role in the play: She disappeared from public view for several years after the play until re-catching people's attention as a successful businesswoman and billionaire in advertising.

According to media reports, Chen's decision of tonsure came among rumors that she turned to the temple because of terminal breast carcinoma.