Tao Family

The Tao Family (家) is a fictional family in the Shaman King manga and anime series.

About
The Tao family, are an ancient Chinese family known for their shamanic capabilities. They live in a mountain south of Guizhou named Shouzan. For many years, the family members have been raised using the doctrine of Tao (道), a Chinese character often translated as "The way of nature". The concept of Tao is based upon the understanding that the only constant in the universe is changing and that one must understand and be in harmony with this change. To the Tao Family, the way of Tao also means that one has nature, a way of acting that is natural to them and that it should be followed at all times.

However, Yúan only saw one side of the world. Being forced to carry the ancestors' souls, he did not gain the wisdom as intended, instead, he received their sadness. It is because of this that he lost all trust in humanity and shamans outside the family and he ended up teaching his children the same thing.

The Tao family see the doctrine of Tao in a way where one should not doubt and, should one doubt, they would become weak. "Wu Bi Mu" meaning "I do not doubt", was uttered by Ren as he was finally able to go against his father, who claimed that he was doubting himself and had forgotten his Tao.

As the doctrine of Tao reflects upon the family's nature, they have also used the symbol as their family symbol, even tattooing it onto their backs, while Ren had his tattoo made forcefully.

Past
2000 years in the past they used their skills to assist and guide the people of China and their power spread across the country. In order to govern the entire mainland of China the Tao Family had other shaman clans cooperate and follow them while exiling those who acted unlawfully. As time went on, they become ostracized for their abilities and hunted down, forcing them to retreat to the outskirts of China.

After being forced to live on the frontiers of China for many years, the Tao Family experienced a revival of sorts when Yúan, a member of the branch family, married Tao Ran, heir to the main branch, and became head of the family. He decided it was his responsibility to engrave the Tao Family’s name into history once more. At the same time, Yúan also saw it as his duty to carry the souls of the ancestors with him and therefore took on an armor of memory tablets that would later be used as a medium for his oversoul, Daidouho.

When his two children were born, he merely saw them as tools for the Tao Family to use to regain their lost honor. Because of this, he made his son Tao Ren undergo unusually harsh training to become Shaman King. He also taught Ren about the cruelty of humanity and that he shouldn't trust anyone outside the family. Tao Jun learned how to become a Dàoshì from her mother so that she could support Ren. Yúan believed that by making Ren Shaman King he would be able to restore the former glory of the Tao Family. However, besides giving Ren a strong body and shamanic abilities, the legacy that Yúan passed to Ren was one of hatred of everyone and everything, a conquer or die philosophy. Because of this, Ren never cared for his family and made it his goal to become Shaman King only so that he could kill every person in the world.

Abilities and Powers
The Tao Family has lived for over 2000 years and has had a large number of various abilities, including basic Shaman abilities and Dàoshì (道士) that controls dead bodies with paper talisman, as well some having Itako skills. Jun later trains under Gandhara's leader, Sati Saigan, and learns how to revive the dead.

Jiang Shi
Even though they have a large variety of skills, the family's specialty lies in creating reanimated corpses, called Jiang Shi. A Dàoshi reintegrates a spirit with its dead body and then uses talismans to enslave its mind and to control its body, a technique known as Tiao Shi Song Shi (跳屍送尸術). If a Jiang Shi's talisman is removed and the Dàoshi is unable to replace it in time, the Jiang Shi will enter a mindless rage. At that point, the only ways to stop it are to destroy its body completely or break the spell binding the spirit to the body.

The corpses can be improved in many ways, such as replacing limbs with animal parts or weapons, in order to create even stronger warriors. As long as the bodies are not destroyed too much, they can be repaired and improved over and over again. As later shown with Pyron they can also add mechanical parts to the body to increase power, in his case adding a piston to increase the power of his basic punch. They also create Jiang Shi to use as servants, horses, and other sorts of things useful in the house.

In rare circumstances, a spirit willingly allows a Dàoshì to integrate them back into their corpse. This method enables the Jiang Shi to operate without talismans.

Gohukuseitai


 * See More: Gohukuseitai

These are the elite Jiang Shi of the Tao Family. Their leader is Shamon, the master of Pyron, but as their leader, he is known as Ichi-Johtoh. They were made with the corpses of humans who had mastered several fields. As Jiang Shi, their bodies are not only made of human bodies but also animal parts and mechanical components. Tao Yúan trained them to be loyal to the Tao Family and its justice and they soon became great supporters.

Torture Brothers


 * See More: Torture Brothers

They were two brothers, a jail warden and an executioner, of the Qing dynasty. They know all the numerous torture methods in China's whole history. They're part of Tao's army of Jiang Shi now, and they're in the worst category.

Unlike most other Jiang Shi, they are composed of several corpses. They each have special arms to which numerous torture devices and weapons can be attached.

Shu and Kyo


 * See More: Shu and Kyo

These are the Jiang Shi that belong to Tao Ran, the mother of Jun and Ren. Shu was a military strategist in the northern region of Wu during the later Han Dynasty. Kyo was a general for the Northern Qi Dynasty during the period of Southern and Northern Dynasties. Both were very handsome in life and Ran used special techniques to increase their handsomeness. Tao Yúan was supposedly very jealous when he first saw his wife's spirits but Ran just thought it was cute.

Anime/Manga Difference
In the 2001 anime series, after the defeat of Tao Yúan and their departure, the Tao family excluding Jun and Ren are not seen ever again, even though they in the manga series they follow Ren from the Patch Tribe in America to the Shaman Fight in Tokyo and cheers him on during his first fight. This also creates a large plot hole in why Asakura Mikihisa wanted to train with Ren and it is instead explained by the fact that Yoh's and Ren's teams have an argument about who is stronger. Also in the English version of the anime series, instead of believing in the doctrine of Tao Yúan instead teaches Ren to "Destroy or be Destroyed". also In the anime series after defeating his father, the tattoo on Ren's back seems to disappear.

In the 2001 anime series, Ren and Jun have a cousin named Ginny who was in the tournament with her younger siblings. Also, Yúan is referred to as their uncle to Jun and Ren instead of their father, whose death is the reason for Yúan's hatred towards humankind.

Tao Ginny


 * See More: Tao Ginny

Tao Ginny Tao Ginny (Jenny Tao in the English anime) is an assassin of Tao Ren and Tao Jun. She is Tao Yúan's niece in the Japanese version of the anime and his daughter in the English version. Ginny only appears in the 2001 anime series.


 * See More: Tao Soumei


 * See More: Tao Kyou

Trivia

 * In Chinese, "Tao" (literally meaning "path/way") is a common way to romanize the character 道 (often read as "dao" in pinyin), with an example being reading "Daoism" as "Taoism".