Pawnshop No. 8
Encyclopedia
Pawnshop #8 is a Taiwan
ese television series produced in 2001 and focusing on two characters who share ownership on a pawnshop. The supernatural-tinged show currently airs on ImaginAsian
in the United States
. Critically acclaimed and well-received in numerous Asian countries, especially Mainland China, Pawnshop No. 8 blends elements of Western
religions such as Christianity
excellently with pre-modern and modern Chinese society.
The main theme of the Pawnshop No. 8 is that of love
, with the main background of the eternal conflict between Heaven
and Hell
, good and evil, God and Satan
. After being bested by the Creator and his unfallen angels countless eons past, Satan, now banished from Paradise and desperate for vengeance, devised a pawnshop to lure mainly Chinese customers, seeking to capture all of humanity's souls for Darkness to reign supreme, coercing random humans whose souls were bent towards his own and whom could perceive his presence to serve as his minions, the owner of the pawnshop and their assistant. To counter Satan's nefarious strategies, God sent angels in the forms of humans, to help the targeted humans brave through the temptations of Satan and use their own power and will to defeat the Enemy's lure. However, the human force of love
turns both God and Satan's plans to both good and ill, and complicates the structure of the Great Game much more than expected...
A man is torn from his family, forced to serve as the slave of a dark master to guarantee the safe future of his family, forced to collect humanity's souls under the guise of a "pawnshop owner" to further the designs of the devil by making business-like bargains and exchanges with him, for almost anything, from material items ranging from watches to rings to emotion, memory, and even one's eternal soul. The man was granted supernatural abilities by his dark master, including immortal life to more adequately serve the devil, and allowed the company of a pawnshop assistant, all in exchange for an eternity's service to Satan. As a last gift to his wife, the man exchanged his own love, his very ability to love, for his wife to have a lifetime of happiness without him.
Allowed by his master (the devil) to claim one mortal as a companion in the Pawnshop No. 8, as his pawnshop "assistant", aiding him in his bargains and deals with customers, for the rest of eternity, the pawnshop owner initially chose a beautiful and fair female, offering her freedom from her restricted life as a servant, but another female, jealous, spiteful and vengeful from a twisted past of sorrow, poverty, and anguish, who Hanuo once sheltered and fed, kills her, and the pawnshop owner instead chooses her: Ajing.
You want to pawn your ability to love in exchange for saving your dying wife? Done.
You want to pawn your fashion design talent for your mother's love? Done.
You want to pawn your soul so that coldhearted woman would die a horrendous death in her every reincarnation? Done.
By the way, Pawnshop No. 8 loves returning customers. This time, you pawn your friendship to be the top man in your business. Next time, you may just pawn your soul to stay on top.
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
ese television series produced in 2001 and focusing on two characters who share ownership on a pawnshop. The supernatural-tinged show currently airs on ImaginAsian
ImaginAsian
ImaginAsian Entertainment is a multi-media company based in New York City. Its main feature is a television network, iaTV, which premiered in 2004 and which focuses on entertainment featuring people of East Asian and South East Asian descent. There is also some South Asian content...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Critically acclaimed and well-received in numerous Asian countries, especially Mainland China, Pawnshop No. 8 blends elements of Western
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
religions such as Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
excellently with pre-modern and modern Chinese society.
The main theme of the Pawnshop No. 8 is that of love
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
, with the main background of the eternal conflict between Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
and Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
, good and evil, God and Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
. After being bested by the Creator and his unfallen angels countless eons past, Satan, now banished from Paradise and desperate for vengeance, devised a pawnshop to lure mainly Chinese customers, seeking to capture all of humanity's souls for Darkness to reign supreme, coercing random humans whose souls were bent towards his own and whom could perceive his presence to serve as his minions, the owner of the pawnshop and their assistant. To counter Satan's nefarious strategies, God sent angels in the forms of humans, to help the targeted humans brave through the temptations of Satan and use their own power and will to defeat the Enemy's lure. However, the human force of love
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
turns both God and Satan's plans to both good and ill, and complicates the structure of the Great Game much more than expected...
A man is torn from his family, forced to serve as the slave of a dark master to guarantee the safe future of his family, forced to collect humanity's souls under the guise of a "pawnshop owner" to further the designs of the devil by making business-like bargains and exchanges with him, for almost anything, from material items ranging from watches to rings to emotion, memory, and even one's eternal soul. The man was granted supernatural abilities by his dark master, including immortal life to more adequately serve the devil, and allowed the company of a pawnshop assistant, all in exchange for an eternity's service to Satan. As a last gift to his wife, the man exchanged his own love, his very ability to love, for his wife to have a lifetime of happiness without him.
Allowed by his master (the devil) to claim one mortal as a companion in the Pawnshop No. 8, as his pawnshop "assistant", aiding him in his bargains and deals with customers, for the rest of eternity, the pawnshop owner initially chose a beautiful and fair female, offering her freedom from her restricted life as a servant, but another female, jealous, spiteful and vengeful from a twisted past of sorrow, poverty, and anguish, who Hanuo once sheltered and fed, kills her, and the pawnshop owner instead chooses her: Ajing.
Synopsis (Translated)
The legend has it that if you can locate Pawnshop No. 8, it will honor any request you may have, as long as you are willing to pay for the price. It accepts valuable jewelry or house deed. It also gladly accepts your limbs, your love, your sanity, your child's future, and the most valuable commodity to the pawnshop, your soul.You want to pawn your ability to love in exchange for saving your dying wife? Done.
You want to pawn your fashion design talent for your mother's love? Done.
You want to pawn your soul so that coldhearted woman would die a horrendous death in her every reincarnation? Done.
By the way, Pawnshop No. 8 loves returning customers. This time, you pawn your friendship to be the top man in your business. Next time, you may just pawn your soul to stay on top.