- This article is about the Godspoken man from Path. You may be looking for the Battle School student.
Han Fei-tzu was a Godspoken man on the planet of Path.[1] He was first introduced in Xenocide.
History[]
Past[]
Han Fei-tzu was born on the planet Path. In his youth, he had a close relationship with Keikoa Amaauka, but it was broken off when she and her father were exiled to the planet Ugarit by Starways Congress.[1]
Xenocide[]
He eventually married Han Jiang-qing and fathered Han Qing-jao in 3164 AX. He worked for Starways Congress. When the fiery words of the political pundit Demosthenes began reinforcing the rebellious actions of the citizens of the planet Lusitania, other revolutions began on other planets. Han Fei-tzu was among those who drafted the resolutions that quashed the other rebellions and authorized the Lusitania Fleet to travel to Lusitania and utilize the Molecular Disruption Device on the planet. During this time, Fei-tzu’s wife Jiang-qing was in failing health. After her death in 3168 AX, he was worried that he would not be able to raise their daughter properly. Jiang-qing gave her dying wish that Han Fei-tzu would teach their daughter the Path of the Godspoken, and he promised he would.[1]
During the three years after his wife’s death, Fei-tzu established a reputation as the greatest of the Godspoken. He was overjoyed that his daughter showed the first signs of being Godspoken and took her to be tested. The tests were physically and emotionally life-threatening for Qing-jao, and Fei-tzu had to be restrained by the monks to prevent him from interfering on his daughter’s behalf. When she passed the tests, he rejoiced, and took her to the recovery bed.[1]
In 3180 AX, Fei-tzu was to give her an assignment; her final test to prove her devotion to the gods. This test dealt with his work with Starways Congress fifteen years earlier. The fleet that was sent to destroy Lusitania had disappeared; Fei-tzu assigned his daughter to find the fleet. He believed that the gods were on the Congress’s side, and would lead her, if she was truly Godspoken and worthy, to finding them. He also approved of Si Wang-mu, Qing-jao’s newly hired secret maid.[1]
As Qing-jao searched for the Lusitania Fleet, she uncovered Jane, the sentient computer program, and threatened to expose her to Congress. To prevent her own destruction, Jane communicated with Han Fei-tzu, telling him of the research conducted by the father of his long-lost lover, Keikoa Amaauka. His research discovered that the Godspoken were actually people who had undergone a unique genetic evolution. They had the patterns of obsessive-compulsive disorder programmed into their genetic coding. What they thought were commandments from the gods were merely genetic messages to fulfill compulsions. This revelation was devastating to Han Fei-tzu, but Qing-jao refused to believe it. Qing-jao decided to do what was necessary to kill Jane and preserve the traditions of her planet. Jane agreed to let the plan go forward, and Qing-jao told Starways Congress of Jane's existence. Furious with his daughter, Fei-tzu resorted to his traditional style of self-purification despite no longer believing in the gods. His daughter’s servant Si Wang-mu believed in Jane’s words about the Godspoken. When the two girls fought over this belief, Wang-mu was banished from the house.[1]
Han Fei-tzu called Wang-mu back to the house, as he was its owner. Fei-tzu promised Wang-mu that he would continue the education Qing-jao had started, and they would work together to stop Congress from finishing its evil deeds. Jane communicated with Fei-tzu, telling him that she needed his and Wang-mu’s help to survive the impending Ansible Shutdown, which would kill her. She said that in exchange for their help in developing faster-than-light travel technology and a possible antidote to the Descolada virus, she would have the scientists on Lusitania work on unraveling the genetic mutation that caused the OCD. Fei-tzu, though doubting his own ability, agreed to help. Weeks later, Jane and Ela Ribeira informed Fei-tzu that they had developed a theory that would allow the genetic manipulation of the Godspoken to be reversed. Ela revealed to Fei-tzu that there was one person who had all the intelligence of the Godspoken, but did not suffer the obsessive-compulsive side effects; it was Si Wang-mu. Fei-tzu was elated to learn of this and made Wang-mu promise tp never to bow to him again, for they were equals in his eyes. With the knowledge of the virus that would cure them, Han Fei-tzu approached his daughter and told her that he was going to tell the people of Path about the virus and that it would put an end to the Godspoken.[1]
Once the antivirus was ready, it was given to Han Fei-tzu by Peter Wiggin II. Fei-tzu drank it and then used physical proximity and contact with as many people as possible to spread it. The virus made the people of Path sick for a few days, but removed the OCD symptoms of the Godspoken. Fei-tzu exposed Qing-jao to the genetic reversal, shutting out the “voice of the gods.” Despite this, Qing-jao continued to live the commandments she’d been given from the gods and to do her purification rituals for decades.[1]
Han Fei-tzu died years later, a respected man who had brought the “Plague of the Gods” to Path. He was given a lavish, expensive funeral, but was not canonized as the God of Path.[1]
Personality[]
Trivia[]
- Despite sharing the family name Han, Orson Scott Card has stated that he not related to the character Han Tzu from Ender's Game.[2]
Quotes[]
- "There can be no greater honor to a parent than to have a child who is greater."
- — Xenocide, page 101