Tao Ching

Tao Ching is a fictional character in the Shaman King manga and anime series. He is the 41st head and oldest living member of the Tao Family. He is the grandfather of Tao Jun and Ren.

Appearance
Ching appears as a short and yet stubby man. He is completely bald but has a thin grey goatee and he has violet eyes. Ching is usually seen wearing a red Chinese Hanfu tied with a yellow sash and a purple zhaoshan on top.

In his youth, Ching heavily resembled his grandson, Ren, except he wore Chinese robes instead of casual school clothes.

Personality
As a member of the Tao Family, Ching follows the family's strict doctrine. In his youth, he appears to be rather sadistic at times as he claimed that he would rather hear the sound of a soldiers neck snapping instead of a song and also he believed that Jōtarō's ideals of friendship were rather stupid.

As an adult, he appears more calm and level-headed, though he would still threaten to kill even members of his own family if they go against his wishes. He acknowledges that the Tao Family is known as an evil one, but reasons that their late actions were only to defend their beliefs in an ever-changing world.

Abilities and Powers
Like many other members of the Tao Family, Ching is a talented Dàoshì, being able to control up to hundred ninety-nine Jiang Shi at the same time with ease.

Spirit

 * See More: Four Perils | Corpse Infantry

His primary guardian ghosts is the ghost of a tiger he named Kyuuki because it looked the same as the evil god of legend. His main medium is a Chinese beretta with an image of Emperor Shun engraved on it.

Past
Tao Ching Originating from Guizhou, China and was born on January 8, 1926. In his youth, during World War II, Ching was hired by the government and killed over nine hundred ninety-nine members of the Japanese Imperial Infantry and made them all into Jiang Shi under his command. One of them was Private Shimamura Jōtarō, that he met at Manchuria, whom he later killed. instead of hearing the song Jōtarō offered to play him.

He was once the head of the Tao Family until he resigned due to unknown reasons and gave the position to his son-in-law, Tao Yúan.

He would later go on to kill the famous martial artist and actor Lee Pyron and turn him into a Jiang Shi and gave him as a gift to his granddaughter Tao Jun. As the Shaman Fights grew even closer, he presented the Jiang Shi he later created from the Japanese Imperial Infantry to his grandson, Tao Ren as a gift for his ninth birthday and had him cut them all down.

Shaman Fights in Tokyo
Even after Ren had defeated both of his father's Oversouls, Yúan claimed that he could still fight, forcing Ching and his daughter Ran to step in and interfere. Ching later reasoned that to his son-in-law that he had already lost the battle when he lost his path and even threatened to kill him if he continued any further soon. meanwhile, Ren and Jun surprised to see the two called them revealing their family relation to the shock of everyone else.

soon despite all of this, Ching still invited them to a banquet to celebrate that his grandson Ren had gotten so many friends. Still showing their distrust, even though Ran explains that they had prepared it from when they arrived, even for Ching began to explain their past history and reasoning their late actions.

Shaman Fight Second Round
He later watches his grandson Ren's first match with Hao's Team "Tsuchi-Gumi". meanwhile, he, Tao Ran, and Tao Yúan meet with Asakura Mikihisa and Asakura Keiko for a small talk about the young shamans and even talk about Asakura Hao. He even knows about Asakura Hao and his strength and even asked Mikihisa why he would train his grandson Tao Ren.

Funbari no Uta
Ching was present when Ren brought Iron Maiden Jeanne home with him, to announce their intentions of getting married. Afterwards Ching took part in celebrating their engagement and acknowledged the couples devotion towards one another.

Flowers
At some point, Ching's health began to deteriorate, confining him to a bed in the Tao Family mansion where he was hooked up to a lot of medical equipment, including an oxygen mask.