Absolutely deliberately suppressed! One of the reasons why I like the Yin Iron maguffin is that it establishes that every 50-100 years someone makes a thing and gets a terrifying amount of power, and that the in between times aren't so much peaceful as people reacting to the catastrophes (trying to avoid the bad parts, trying to regain the power, not realizing they are the same thing).

Also, I hear he found a cave with a book with strange techniques written by an old mystic.