A mysterious physician who treats only spirits and yaoguai, Tao Yao travels through ancient China with her medicine bag and her sharp tongue. No one really knows where she comes from, or why she devotes her life to healing those humans fear.
Personality
Greedy, mocking and happily lazy, Tao Yao has a strong character and lets no one fool her. Behind her casual air she shows deep compassion for her patients and great lucidity about human cruelty.
Powers & abilities
She practises spirit medicine, a rare art that lets her cure the ailments of yaoguai, of body and soul alike. Her real power remains a mystery, but she seems capable of much more than she shows.
History
Accompanied by the little monk Mo Ya, and later other companions, she goes from case to case. Each spirit she heals reveals a story, often melancholy, about the bonds between humans and yaoguai, while Tao Yao's past remains a discreet common thread.
Relationships
Mo Ya, the little monk, is her closest companion, both assistant and almost little brother. On her rounds she meets many spirits, some of whom join her little troupe.
Key moments
- Her consultations, where each spirit tells a story.
- Her squabbles with Mo Ya.
- The clues about her past, which intrigue viewers.
In the adaptations
Bilibili's donghua, launched in 2020, is praised for its Chinese-painting-inspired aesthetic and its short-story format.
Did you know?
- The Chinese title, Bai Yao Pu (百妖谱), means "the register of a hundred demons".
- Her name, Tao Yao (桃夭), comes from a poem in the Classic of Poetry about peach blossoms.
Our take
Tao Yao is a singular heroine, funny and melancholy at once. Fairies Album is an ideal series for discovering donghua through short, poetic stories.
— Spidermas, for Donghua Fan