Tao Ching

Tao Ching (道珍 Dào Ching) is a fictional character in the manga and anime series of Shaman King. He is the 42nd head and oldest living member of the Tao Family. He is the grandfather of Tao Ren and Tao Jun. His birthday is January 8, 1926.

Appearance
Tao Ching appears as a small and stubby man. He is completely bald but still has a thin grey goatee. Ching is usually seen wearing a red Chinese Hanfu tied with a yellow sash and a purple zhaoshan on top. In his youth he looked exactly like his grandchild Ren, with the only difference being that he wore Chinese robes instead of casual cloth.

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 snap instead of his song and also believed that Jōtarō's ideals of friendship were rather idiotic.

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 actions were only to defend their beliefs in an ever changing world.

Abilities and Powers
Like many other members of the Tao Family, Ching too is a talented Dàoshì, being able to control up to 999 Jiang Shi at the same time with ease.

Spirit

 * See More: Kyuuki

His primary spirit 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
As a boy during World War II, Ching killed the 999 members of the Japanese Imperial Infantry and turned them all into Jiang Shi under his command. One of them was Private Shimamura Jōtarō, whom he met on Manchuria, whom he 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 Lee Pyron and turn him into a Jiang Shi and gave him as a present to his granddaughter Tao Jun. As the Shaman Fights grew closer, he presented the Jiang Shi he created from the Japanese Imperial Infantry to his grandson Tao Ren as a present for his 9th birthday and had him cut them all down

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

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