Abstract

The researchers found that the Tcheonzamun (The Thousand Character Essay) consists of 63 poems of 16 letters, while the last 63rd poem consists of 8 letters. The researchers looked at the history of ancient Korea through Tcheonzamun poem. This is because the history of Korea before the 1st century has not been known until now. Through the first translation using the Chinese character, the researchers found that the author of Tcheonzamun poems tried to encourage the Maeg people, the ancestor of Koreans, because they were defeated in a combat with another country at that time. The researchers found that there is another method for the translation of Tcheonzamun poem. The researchers used their Korean pronunciations of the 16 letters for the second translation. The meaning of the translations under the two methods was similar, while the second translation through Korean pronunciations of Chinese characters had a tinge of sadness. From the aforementioned three key points, the researchers assumed two things: the people of Maeg country wrote the Tcheonzamun, and that the Tcheonzamun was spread from Maeg country into China before 500 B.C. Another two things the researchers found further are: the Tcheonzamun poem is a splendid writing because it expresses similar meaning both in interpretation of Chinese characters and Korean pronunciations using Chinese characters. There is a little difference between the modern Korean language and the Korean language of more than 2500 years old. The researchers wanted to know if Maeg people were religious people or not. Through this research, the researchers concluded that Maeg people were very religious people. And finally it is considered that the object for Maeg people of this Tcheonzamun poem is their petition to God for protection.

Key words: Maeg, Korean pronunciations, the sorrowful voices of Tcheonzamun (The Thousand Character Essay) author.