Alumnus Kwon Jong-hyo (Textile Engineering '72) donates 797 ancient books passed down through family
Named 'Dongju Kwon Myung-soo Library' named after the pseudonym and name of the collector at the central library
Plaque of appreciation given to Mr. Kwon Jong-hyo on the 22nd
[April 22, 2016]
<Alumnus Kwon Jong-hyo, who donated ancient books passed down from his ancestors, takes a look around the 'Dongju Kwon Myung-soo Library'>
An alumnus who graduated from YU (President Noh Seok-kyun) made news by donating a large amount of ancient books that were passed down to him from his ancestors.
KPH CEO Kwon Jong-hyo, who was from the YU Department of Textile Engineering class of '72, donated 797 ancient books. The books donated by Mr. Kwon included 32 types of 192 books for the woodblock-printed version and Chinese version of the Dongibogam that were reprinted by the Gyeongsang provincial office in 1754, and amount to 259 different types of 797 books. The period of publication for the donated books include 4 types of 25 books from the 17th century, 35 types of 155 books from the 18th century, 145 types of 446 books from the 19th century, and 75 types of 171 books from the 20th century.
These books were collected and stored by Dongju Kwon Myung-soo (1869-1953), who is a descendent of the Andong Kwon Family Bokyagong Clan. They were passed down to Mr. Kwon Myung-soo's second eldest son Kwon Dae-gil and his eldest son Mr. Kwon, which were then recently donated to YU.
Mr. Kwon said, "I decided to make the donation because I felt that it would be of more use by having the university, which has expertise in both education and research, store it instead of personally keeping it." He added, "I hope that YU will utilize it in remembrance of my grandfather's noble spirit who loved academics and collected many books."
The books donated by Mr. Kwon were named 'Dongju Kwon Myung-soo Library' using the pseudonym and name of Mr. Kwon Myung-soo and it will be placed at the ancient literature library of the YU Central Library for use in research and education.
To extend its thanks to Mr. Kwon for donating the books, YU presented a plaque of appreciation to him at 2 p.m. on the 22nd. YU President Noh Seok-kyun met with Mr. Kwon to present the plaque of appreciation and said, "It will be valuable as academic materials for students and researchers" and added, "We really thank you for donating valuable heritages passed down through your family to YU."
