The Pawnshop No. 8

The Pawnshop No. 8 (also known as Pawnshop #8) is a 2003 Taiwanese television series focusing on two characters who share ownership on a pawnshop. The supernatural-tinged show airs on ImaginAsian in the United States. Critically acclaimed and well received in numerous Asian countries, especially mainland China, The Pawnshop No. 8 blends elements of Western religions such as Christianity with pre-modern and modern Chinese society.

The Pawnshop No. 8
Also known as	第8號當舖
Genre	Supernatural
Directed by	Chen Chun-liang
Country of origin	Taiwan
Original language	Mandarin
No. of episodes	116
Production
Producer	Kuo Chien-Hung
Production location	Taiwan
Production company	TransWorld Production Co.
Original release
Release	2003 (2003) – 2003 (2003)

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...

Premise

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 woman, offering her freedom from her restricted life as a servant, but another woman, 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.

Plot

The story begins with an ancient legend: those who locate the Pawnshop No. 8 will receive anything they desire, as long as they are willing to pay the price. In reality, the Pawnshop No. 8 is a scheme set forth by Dark Shadow, the master of darkness. He uses humanity's endless greed and desire to lure them into transactions, with the ultimate goal of collecting their soul, thereby ruling the world. The shop owner is hand-selected by Dark Shadow. This chosen individual is granted eternal life, the power to predict the future, and all the wealth he will ever need. But what he cannot do is take pawned items for personal use or otherwise betray his master.

During the Ming dynasty, the pawnshop owner decides to secretly use a client's brain to save his mentally disabled lover. However, Dark Shadow soon finds out, takes back the pawned item, and destroys his disloyal servant by fire. Without an owner to manage the shop, the name of Pawnshop No. 8 temporarily disappears from the world. Dark Shadow then begins his quest for a new owner to continue his dream of world conquest.

Years later, as the Qing dynasty draws to an end, a salesman's son named Han Nuo happily marries the love of his life, with whom he soon has a son named Han Lei. Unknowingly, he is chosen to become the next owner of the pawnshop. Dark Shadow takes possession of Han Lei's body and begins to threaten Han Nuo by harming his family members one by one. And he will continue to do so if Han Nuo does not agree to devote his eternal life to the pawnshop. Although Han Nuo is hesitant at first, he is finally persuaded when his beloved wife steps into a blazing fire, badly burning her entire body. To save his family, he agrees to manage the pawnshop and also pawns his ability to love for all of eternity in exchange for his wife's one lifetime of happiness.

Thus begins Han Nuo's life as the devil's minion, along with his assistant Chen Jing (known as A-Jing). As a servant of darkness, he is obliged to direct lost souls to Pawnshop No. 8, enticing them again and again, bringing them closer and closer to darkness until they one day willingly part with their soul. As a human being, he is disgusted with some individuals' willingness to exchange priceless items like romantic love, family love, and friendship for success and monetary benefits. He is even more revolted at his responsibility to lure the purest of souls (for they are the most valuable) to Pawnshop No. 8. In appearance, Han Nuo is cold and heartless, but in reality, he is a compassionate human being tormented by loneliness and inexplicable desires. Will he be able to set himself free? How much is he willing to sacrifice?

Did God not hear your plea? What else do you want? To satisfy your desires, what price are you willing to pay? The Pawnshop No. 8 will accept anything, including your soul...

Production

The Pawnshop No. 8 is an adaptation of a novel by Hong-Kong writer Zita Law. Principal photography began on May 13, 2003, without its star, Alex To; his arrival in Taiwan from his home in Hong Kong was delayed due to quarantine measures of the then-ongoing SARS outbreak.

Reception

Wu Qizong, writing for the Min Sheng Bao, remarked that Alex To's and Chen Chia-yu's roles were challenging, as the same actors had to play the same character from age twenty to their seventies.

Cast

Character	Played By	Description
Han Nuo	Alex To	The son of a well-off family, Han Nuo is forced to give up his love and leave his family to take over Pawnshop No. 8. His cold and heartless appearance serves to conceal his inner compassion as well as his loneliness, helplessness, and repressed love.
Chen Jing	Tien Hsin	Commonly known as A-Jing, Chen Jing first appears as a young beggar girl. She voluntarily becomes the pawnshop's assistant and earns Dark Shadow's approval (much to Han Nuo's dismay). After a century of living together, she falls for her boss Han Nuo, not knowing that he has already been rendered unable to love. Throughout the series, A-Jing changes from a greedy beggar willing to kill for food and shelter to a lonely woman willing to die for love.
Sun Zhuo	Penny Lin	Sun Zhuo is an aspiring singer who pawns her romantic love in exchange for international fame. Upon receiving Han Nuo's unprecedented affection, she believes herself in love and assumes the feeling to be reciprocal. Her dream is to replace A-Jing and be with Han Nuo forever. She reveals her feelings on her deathbed, only to be told by Han Nuo that she is in fact his great-granddaughter. With all hope lost, she chooses to die of brain cancer at the age of 31 instead of pawning a sacred key for 50 additional years of life.
The Bai family	Ben Lee	Members of the Bai family are identical angels who appear to mortals in many forms in order to turn misguided souls into the hands of God. They will convince desperate people that life moves on and tell hopeless individuals that fate lies in their hands. They are considered the competition and biggest threat to Pawnshop No. 8. Nevertheless, A-Jing gets into an inexplicable relationship with John Bai, who becomes her closest friend and confidant.
Lu Yunyin	Cheng Chia-yu	Yunyin is a devout Catholic and the wife of Han Nuo. After her husband leaves, her friends and family have suggested that she should move on, but she remains firm in the belief that she and Han Nuo will one day be reunited. Fifty years later, on her deathbed, Han Nuo holds her hand and asks why it is that he traded his life and love for her happiness only for her to reject happiness whenever it comes. Yunyin replies that waiting for him is her happiness.
Gao Feng	Tou Chung-hua	A scholar from the Song dynasty, Gao Feng met and fell in love with Zhao Liangyin, a famous prostitute. He gave up his future to spend time with Liangyin, but was brutally rejected by his beloved the moment his money was gone. Faced with rejection and unable to cope with his anger, he went to Pawnshop No. 8 and pawned his soul in exchange for retaliation. 800 years later, he escapes from the pawnshop. After spending time with Liangyin's reincarnation, he realizes that everything was a misunderstanding. But it is too late. This girl, Amy, lives under his curse and will continue to do so for all of eternity. There is only one way to break it...
Amy	Chiang Tsu-ping	Amy is a nightclub worker with a history of abusive relationships and misfortunes in the workforce. She is plagued by constant nightmares and is also destined to die a horrifying death on her 29th birthday. Amy is the reincarnation of Zhao Liangyin, a prostitute from the Song dynasty, who fell in love with Gao Feng but forced out an act of betrayal in an attempt to motivate the latter to succeed. Gao Feng misunderstood her intentions and instead cursed her to remain a prostitute for all of eternity and never live past 29. Yet despite hardships and multiple reincarnations, Gao Feng remains the one and only in Amy's heart.
Chung Hsiao-chieh	Kimi Hsia
Yang Wen-han	Lee Lee-zen
Lin Kuan-hua	Michael Huang

References

• Mak, Mun San (2004-03-28). "Television". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 2023-07-29. Retrieved 2023-07-29. Hong Kong actor-singer Alex To may have been in the news last year for all the wrong reasons, but his latest outing in the supernatural drama The Pawnshop No. 8 should get everyone talking again - for the right ones. Adapted from a novel by popular Hong Kong writer Zita Law aka Deep Snow (pop idol Andy Lau is said to be a huge fan of her works), the Taiwanese serial stars To as the proprietor of a pawnshop during the late Qing dynasty. ... Try not to cringe when you see To, with his handsome face all contorted, declaring: 'I love her! I want to be with her during this lifetime, and the next, and the next...'If you can get past that, you should begin to appreciate the decent acting by him, Tien and the rest of the cast, which includes TV host A-ya and Matilda Tao's beau Li Li-jen.
• Wu, Qizong 吳啟綜 (2003-04-16). 杜德偉來台 開 當舖 天心 鄭家榆繞身旁 帥哥強調跟女友感情沒問題 [Alex To came to Taiwan to open a pawn shop. Tien Hsin, Carol Cheng are around,. The handsome guy emphasizes that he and his girlfriend have no relationship problems.]. Min Sheng Bao (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2023-07-29. Retrieved 2023-07-29. 「第８號當舖」由「映畫」郭建宏製作、蔡揚名執導，劇情改編小說描述一間當舖，不僅可以典當金銀珠寶，還可以典當人的際遇、靈魂、愛情，甚至身體的任何部位。杜德偉飾演被賦予魔力長生不老的當舖老闆，而鄭家榆則飾杜的賢淑老婆，一路從20歲演到70多歲，很有挑戰性。天心則飾演非常時摩的當舖夥計。
• Yang, Qifeng 楊起鳳 (2003-05-14). "第8號當鋪 照燒！ 驚煞中開鏡 仁波切祈福" [The Pawnshop No. 8. Teriyaki! Shocked and opened the mirror, Rinpoche prayed]. Star News (in Chinese). 衛視中文台「第8號當鋪」昨天開鏡，男主角杜德偉因屬港澳同胞無法來台，不過現場特別邀來格巴多傑仁波切大師及五位喇嘛，為全台灣人民進行祈福儀式，盼大家能平安渡過這次SARS席捲全球的風暴。在香港接受訪問的杜德偉說，為讓劇組能順利工作，他願意配合政府來台隔離十天的禁令。
• Zhao, Dazhi 趙大智 (2003-08-24). "劉雪華 醜到把于莉嚇哭 暴牙、歪嘴進第8號當舖 大美女細數嚇人史 超得意" [Leanne Liu is so ugly that Yu Li was scared to tears. Toothy, crooked mouth into The Pawnshop No. 8. Scary history of beauties. Super interesting.]. Min Sheng Bao (in Chinese). 劉雪華最近加入衛視中文台「第8號當舖」，昨天在華視地下4樓攝影棚拍一段精采劇情，先拍她25歲時因長相醜陋，到杜德偉和天心開設的當舖，打算出賣自己最珍貴之物，換取美貌；接著，她果真如願變成像天心一般的美女，身著華服但慾望反而愈來愈多，還想繼續典當下去，到最後，甚至連生育能力和視力都賣給魔鬼了。
• "今晚新菜色 第8號當鋪" [New dishes tonight. The Pawnshop No. 8]. United Evening News (in Chinese). 2003-10-07. 改編自香港知名小說家深雪同名小說的電視連續劇「第8號當舖」，由杜德偉和天心主演，是衛視中文台首齣花鉅資自製的八點檔連續劇。
• Fang, Chan 方嬋 (2003-10-12). "當鋪造勢 星情狂FUN 中南部辦簽名 天心小露性感 杜德偉好興奮" [Pawn shop to build momentum. Star lovers FUN. Autographing at Central South Office. Tien Hsin is sexy. Alex To is so excited.]. Star News (in Chinese). 為了幫主演的「第8號當舖」造勢，天心以黑色薄紗加上若隱若現的Bra，色誘觀眾；而愛血拚的林韋君看到簽名會現場百貨公司正在打折，差一點衝進去大肆血拚。 衛視中文台大戲「第8號當舖」下中南部辦簽名會，男女主角杜德偉、李志希、天心、林韋君的魅力，將現場擠得水瀉不通。
• Li, Yiyun 李怡芸 (2003-12-07). "電視派不屑原著 小說派力挺深雪 吵成e團 當舖狂賣" [The TV school disdains the original work, while the novel school supports Zita Law Arguing into an e group, pawnshop selling wildly]. Star News (in Chinese). 電視劇「第8號當舖」才因換了主角拍續集被網友痛批，這廂對於原著小說與電視劇的優劣之爭，亦在網上辯得沸沸揚揚，然而不論是褒是貶，結果是…原著小說因此再度熱賣。網友對於「第8號當舖」電視版和小說版的好惡，可說是涇渭分明，支持電視劇的人，認為小說沒有真正「說故事」，電腦天才林賢堂為婚姻的犧牲只是過場，孫卓也沒有談到友情及為成功的掙扎，更沒有劉至芳的人性轉變，因此認為賦予原著生命的，是編劇和演員，
• Cai, Yiling 蔡宜玲 (2004-01-31). "天心：叫我紅八點 一人三部戲 八點檔不看她也難" [Tien Hsin: Call me Red Eight. Three dramas for one person, it's hard not to watch her at eight o'clock]. United Evening News (in Chinese). 2003年對天心是幸運的一年，「第8號當舖」在台灣收視長紅，創造有線台國語劇奇蹟 ... 由於天心人氣急速上升，正在播出的「第8號當舖」因有上檔壓力，天心每天都得趕拍
• Li, Meihua 李美嬅 (2004-03-10). "8號當舖開張 有價萬物全收 店名趕搭電視劇熱潮 工作人員穿制服凸顯「專業」 首日就有人拿名牌皮包、新款手機和名表典當" [The Pawnshop No. 8 opened, accepting everything of value. The name of the store catches up with the TV drama craze. The staff wear uniforms to highlight their "professionalism." On the first day, some people pawned designer bags, new mobile phones and famous watches]. United Daily News (in Chinese). p. B2. 電視劇第8號當舖最近當紅，這家8號當舖名稱一樣，在夜晚時廣告霓虹燈閃爍，引人注意。三月八日才取得縣政府核發的營利事業登記證，昨天開張已有人上門把名牌皮包、新款行動電話和名表拿來典當。 ... 老闆徐嘉宏不否認取這店名是趕搭電視劇熱潮，但為與傳統當舖區隔，8號當舖門面很明亮，工作人員一律穿上深灰色制服，希望給顧客專業的感覺，
• Yu, Qingxuan 於慶璇 (2016-04-16). "《第8號當舖》13年過去了 如今這些主演..." ["The Pawnshop No. 8" aired 13 years, and now these leading actors...]. China Times (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2023-07-29. Retrieved 2023-07-29. 《第8號當舖》是一齣相當別出心裁的電視劇，故事設定為清末民初之時，講述一間特別的當舖，在這間當舖裡接受任何物品，典當的不僅僅只是金銀珠寶、大屋樓契，還有一個人的四肢、內臟、運氣、機遇、快樂，以及靈魂。劇情看似記憶猶新，但不知不覺，這部電視劇已經過去有13年之久，究竟這些主演現在都過得如何呢？還記得他們嗎？
• Young, Debbie (2004-06-11). "Real drama queen". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 2023-07-29. Retrieved 2023-07-29. My most recent purchase is a 40-episode Taiwanese drama called Pawnshop No. 8, about the battle between the two worlds of good and evil. It cost me $100 for the set but I think it is money well-spent.
• Yang, Qifeng 楊起鳳 (2003-04-16). "杜德偉登台 忘掉麻煩 吸毒風波律師處理 舒服拍戲快樂玩" [Alex To on stage, forgetting the trouble. Lawyer dealing with drug scandal, comfortable filming and fun]. Star News (in Chinese). 衛視與製作人郭建宏、導演蔡揚名合作拍攝八點檔自製劇「第 8號當舖」請來不老的情人杜德偉演男主角，首度在台拍電視劇

External links

• Official Website
• ImaginAsian page