She is sometimes credited as Shui Ling (水灵; 水靈), a stage name given to her by Taiwanese writer Chiung Yao while she was involved in the production of the television series Tears in Heaven.

In the second year of Jiang's study at the Beijing Film Academy, she was cast by director Yang Jie in the title role of Xishi in the television series of the same name.

She then starred in Tears in Heaven, an adaptation of a novel by Chiung Yao, and rose to fame in China.

[2][3] Following that, she played a number of notable roles, including Gu Manlu in Affair of Half a Lifetime (2003) and Mu Nianci in The Legend of the Condor Heroes (2003).

[citation needed] Jiang married actor Chen Jianbin on February 22, 2006, whom she co-starred with in Qiao's Grand Courtyard.