[NTLK] h*cks, kr*ks, SN

[Tony Kan]

Talking about hoarding:

Our family comes from a long line of traditional chinese herbalists, many
Chinese from all over the country contacted my Grandfather for treatment.  One
of my uncles accidentally pulled an electric jug down from the bench and the hot
water burnt him severely from his shoulder all the way down his back.  My
Grandfather prepared a poultice from his books and today there is no scarring.

When it came to passing on the trade to my New Zealand educated Uncles, they
refused because they thought of it as unscientific.

Apparently there is some rule that if you can't pass it on within the family,
the last remaining practitioner must burn all the knowledge so that it will not
fall into external hands.  With tremendous grief, my Grandfather heaped all his
books in the backyard and burnt them all.

Wouldn't that poultice alone have been a tremendous contribution to society
today?

Tony

Christchurch
New Zealand

[snip]
And yes, I know "hoarding" may be not quite accurate and also may be
somewhat emotive, but I wanted a single word to describe keeping to oneself
what could be useful to someone else -- and my brain doesn't always work on
Monday.  ;-)
[snip]