Song of Instruction

Kyohunga, "Song of Instruction," belongs to the Yongdam Yusa, the vernacular Korean song collection attributed to Choe Je-u. Unlike the Literary Chinese doctrinal pieces of the Donggyeong Daejeon, this song speaks in household language: to children, kin, disciples, and the anxious family left behind when the founder must leave home under pressure.

This Good Works Translation was made from the Korean source text of 교훈가 as presented by the Cheondogyo Central Headquarters. The official page's modern explanatory layer was used as a checking aid, but the English below is a fresh source-language translation and no modern English translation is reproduced.

Translation

1

I say to you,
children and younger kin:

receive this writing with reverence.

You too were born into this world
through the Five Phases.

You took the Three Bonds as law,
and entered into the Five Relations.

Now you have grown to twenty years.

In this household of a flourishing gate
and an honored line,
to see you moving about
without the number of sickness upon you:
this is a celebration.

I raised you without great occupation or trouble.
Is this not one joy and one sorrow?

2

I too,
when I think clearly
of what I have passed through
from childhood in this world,
see that the hundred thousand affairs
of human life
are only this:

once done, they are over;
once endured, they are suffering.

Of all of them,
not one labor succeeded.

So I laughed once
at the thoughts held in my breast
and set them aside.

Then I looked back on my own life.
My age was already forty.

I looked back on the customs of the world,
and they were like this,
and like this,
and again like this.

Enough.
This life of mine has nothing else.

I went in search of Gumi Yongdam,
the Dragon Pool of Gumi,
and made a heavy vow again.

Husband and wife sat facing one another,
sighing,
and said:

"A great man has passed forty years
without understanding.

Now there is no road to take.

Let him make a courtesy name
and a name for himself again,
and vow not to go outside the mountain."

Was that intention not deep?

3

Sorrowful is this life of mine.

If I had known it would become like this,
I would not even speak of increasing property.

If I had put my strength
into the inherited work received from my parents,
I might not have escaped coarse clothing and coarse food,
but I would have lived.

Instead,
as if I had some great plan,
in this shallow and confused world
I sat alone sighing,
and went on in that way
until the household property was ruined.

Blame is useless.
Lament is useless.

Is it not said
that a wife must follow her husband?

If you too,
from childhood,
never stop speaking
of the times when you ate and dressed well,
then what becomes of harmony between husband and wife?

And the child still in swaddling cloth:
is that not a thing impossible to bear?

Throw away this talk and that talk.
Let us pass along, step by step.

Heaven gives birth to all people,
and surely gives each one an occupation.

Life lies in Heaven;
why fear death?

When Hanullim makes a person,
he does not make one without provision.

What fate of ours
could be so steep and dangerous?

Those who are rich and noble
were poor and low in former times.

Those who are poor and low
will be rich and noble in times to come.

Heaven's fortune turns in a cycle:
nothing goes out without returning.

And in this household of mine,
the work of accumulating goodness
and accumulating virtue
has always been so from before.

How could there be no remaining blessing?

Guard the good heart
handed down generation after generation.

After being at peace in poverty
and delighting in the Way,
let us cultivate the self
and order the household.

However much people in the world
criticize and blame,
hear it and do not hear it.

The ugly color of unrighteous things:
see it and do not see it.

Instruct the young children.
Teach them in every matter.
Take worthy conduct as the model.

If we guard the household work,
will that not be joy?

4

Comforted in this way,
seven or eight months passed.

Was it a dream?
Was it sleep?

I received the Limitless Great Way.

After rectifying the heart
and cultivating the body,
I sat again and thought:

Is this the remaining blessing of our household?
Is this the return of the principle of the cycle?

How boundless this is.

Thinking clearly
from all ages before
to all ages after,
there was no writing
and there were no words.

Among the many living beings,
was there truly no person?

Had the fortune of the Confucian Way
and the Buddhist Way,
after a thousand years upon a thousand years,
also come to its end?

How did I receive
the fortune turning like a wheel?

Among the countless living people,
how did I become high?

How did I exist
as a person not found in one age?

Perhaps this matter of mine
was obtained while sleeping.

Perhaps it was received while dreaming.

It cannot be measured.

If people had been selected,
there were people worse than me.

If talent had been selected,
there were talents worse than mine.

Though ten thousand doubts remain,
Hanullim has settled it.

There is nothing to be done.

I have a heart that would decline it,
but where could I go to decline?

I have a heart that would ask my doubts,
but where could I go to ask?

Where could I find a model
for a law without a single word
or half a character?

Silent and unanswered, I thought.

The changed courtesy name
seemed to appear;
as I sat as if foolish,
the changed name became certain.

5

Having no road to take,
I gathered up my scattered spirit
and spoke to Hanullim.

Hanullim spoke:

"You too are a person.
What did you know?

For forty years of life,
did you know
that the countless living people
return together into one body?

Laughable man.

When you carried out
the hundred thousand affairs of the world,
what intention did you have?

From the month you entered the mountain,
when you changed your courtesy name
and your name,
what intention did you have?

The so-called words you prayed at the Spring Beginning
did not pray for blessing and provision.

What plan,
what ambition,
did you have
that you wrote without doubt:
The multitude of people in the world do not return together?

You posted it clearly.

When people of the world came to look,
what was your heart?

With that temper,
where do you now find the nerve
to receive the Limitless Great Way,
which has never existed through all ages,
and boast of it?

Is that not shameful?

Looking back at the people of the world,
why would you select human talent
from among so many people?

What are cleverness and dullness?

Why sigh in doubt
because people of the world are as they are?

How did you know
that you are worse than others?

How did you think you knew
that your talent was worse than others?

Do not speak that way.

Since you fell to earth at birth,
this is the first time.

I set out good fortune,
fixed the number of conception and birth,
and as you grew from childhood,
what matter did I not know?

I caused the way
by which things are gathered in the world,
and the carrying out
of the hundred thousand affairs,
to happen within creation and transformation.

Are there not exceptional people
here and there?

People of the world without understanding
speak as if with resentment:
Is so-and-so not a man of talent greater than virtue?

They say:
He ruined the property inherited from generations, and in a single pavilion at Gumi Yongdam vowed not to go outside the mountain. One understands it, and then again one does not.

In this poor worldly condition,
even if you mingled with people
and accommodated yourself with flattery,
you did not know how to preserve
wife and children.

When you say,
I will guard the household work and be at peace in poverty and delight in the Way,
is that not laughable enough to split the belly?

This talk and that talk may surge,
but I know.
Do you know?

Do not hold such thoughts.

Rectify the heart
and cultivate the Way.

Carry it out as instructed.

If you teach gradually,
step by step,
you will cast forth the boundless creation
and transformation
and spread virtue throughout the world.

The sequence of the Way and its law
is only this.

Set the law in order.
Make the writing.

The people of the world
who enter the Way
will become noble persons from that day.

They will be transformed without action.

Are you not an earthly immortal?"

6

After I heard these words,
my heart alone rejoiced
and became self-assured.

From that day,
husband and wife sat facing one another.

After all this talk and that talk,
there was only glad and joyful conversation.

"Now listen," I said.

"Since this body of mine has become like this,
was not the play of my youth
like madness and drunkenness?

The words I used to speak
as empty words
have now become true.

After a man comes into the world,
should he not also play?

Should he not also speak empty words?

What is your heart?"

Look at the conduct of the old wife:
she did not answer what was asked.

She held her knees,
smacked her lips,
and with difficulty drew out
three or four worldly words,
only looking up at the ceiling:

"Is it a dream?
Is it sleep?

Ah, world.
Ah, world.

We too are people of the world.
Could our fortune be like this?

Hanullim, Hanullim:
if our lives were to become like this,
why did you make us undergo
so much past suffering?"

Today, truly,
that half-mad, half-drunk gentleman:
wherever he went,
I followed him.

Who could I tell
of that shabby suffering?

And when he came home,
what great words he spoke:

"That person too, that person too:
what is suffering?

If my fate is good,
joy will be my friend
and suffering will be joy.

Stop the small talk and follow me.
I am not one who will grow old in vain."

I too was speechless.

I stared at his face
and sighed from the center of my heart.

What we have gone through until now
was nothing else.

His conduct in receiving people
was as if he were not a person of the world.

His conduct toward wife and children
was utmost in true feeling.

If Heaven's grace were present,
I too knew
that good fortune would return.

After laughing once
and setting it aside,
my spirit could not help rising.

7

Passing along in that way,
I opened the heavy gate wide
and taught the people who came.

It became more than I could bear.

Worthy people and noble persons
gathered in.

They made bright their bright virtue.

Great fortune and great virtue
were clear.

8

But the people of the world,
not knowing this,
hate those who surpass them.

They made up rootless talk.

Those words never heard before,
those sounds never seen before:
how did they draw them out so?

Why were the stories
within the village
so confused and loud?

Sorrowful are the people of the world.

When my fortune becomes good,
how could you know
that your fortune is pitiful?

Pitiful is the village of Gyeongju.

It is plainly a place without people.

If worthy people were there,
why would such talk exist?

Putting aside all village customs,
pitiful is the fortune of my gate.

Wicked words and strange rumors
that know nothing:
they doubled what others said.

What matter is flesh and kin?

They treated me as if I were an enemy.

Had I killed their father?
Was there vengeance for a father's death?

Why were they so hostile?

People who had passed without grace or resentment
were swept up among them
and likewise became enemies.

Is this not helping Jie
to commit cruelty?

9

However much they do this,
if there is no crime,
that is enough.

Yet however much they do this,
I too am a person of the world.

Could I, without cause
and without a capital crime,
fall under accusation?

If this were not my fortune,
could innocence allow one to escape?

Moreover,
is this household of mine
not the fault of a narrow and sheltered gate?

Enough.

This life of mine
trusts in fortune,
yet it is hard to bear.

If I do not look carefully
at the eyes and ears of others
and speak in this way,
it will seem as if I despise the world,
as if I despise the magistrate.

There is nothing to be done.
There is no road.

10

This limitless Way of mine:
even if I do not teach it,
people who have the fortune
will receive it gradually
and teach it gradually.

Even without me,
it will be carried out.

I packed my traveling things
and planned for thousands of li.

Every person cultivating the Way
is sincere and sincere again,
yet how could I leave,
with you whose feathers are not yet grown?

There is no way at all to forget you.

I instructed you in ten thousand ways,
but this affection that could not bear it:
put yourself in my place and think.

Still,
there was no road to take.

In one morning
we were separated.

11

On the far, far road I traveled,
when I thought,
it was of you.

Sitting alone in a foreign place,
at times when I remembered,
the conduct of your cultivation of the Way
rang clearly in my ears
and shimmered before my eyes.

At times when I remembered,
the signs of your violating the law day by day
struck my eyes
and seemed to sound in my ears.

Surely your conduct
plainly violates the law day by day.

This bright, bright fortune:
does it become so because one wants it?
Does it become so because one wishes for it?

Enough.

Even without seeing your conduct,
I seem to see it.

There is affection between father and child,
but does fortune itself have such affection?

Brothers share one body,
but is fortune itself one body with them?

If you too are human beings,
you should naturally look
at the way others cultivate the Way.

Why are you so careless?

You things without understanding:
take the cultivation of others as your model.

Be sincere and sincere again.
Be reverent.

Rectify the heart
and cultivate the body.

However things may be,
since this body of mine has become like this,
there is grace,
yet the law of completing the Way
and establishing virtue
has one part sincerity
and one part human action.

If you do not listen
to a parent's instruction
and wander loosely,
you come near to birds and beasts.

Is that not merely going and stopping
according to yourselves?

Laughable people, you.
I do not know you at all.

Within father, child, and brothers,
completion of the Way
and establishment of virtue
belongs to each one.

Among the people of the world,
those who have sincerity
are plainly worthy people.

Look at them with a settled mind
and take them as your model.

How could you say
there is no sincerity and reverence?

Painful are you.

I do not say
you must become outstanding sages.

But if you fall below other people
and do not reach Way and virtue,
even if it is a calamity you made yourselves,
I will still grieve.

The fortune is good,
but only by cultivation
does it become Way and virtue.

What fate do you have
that you would obtain it without labor?

You things without understanding:
do you act this way because you trust me?

Do not trust me at all.
Trust Hanullim.

You have enshrined him in your own body.
Why abandon what is near
and seek what is far?

What I too desire
is that you trust only Hanullim entirely.

You whose darkness has not yet been explained:
even if you wholly set books aside
and make effort in cultivating the Way,
that too is Way and virtue.

I fear that writing and moral talk alike
may return to empty affairs.

If the thirteen characters are made utmost,
what need is there
of ten thousand books of poetry and history?

It has been called heart-learning.
Do not forget its meaning.

You will become worthy people and noble persons.
Will you not reach completion of the Way
and establishment of virtue?

How could you abandon yourselves
when the Way is this easy?

Painful are you people.
Why are you so careless?

It is hard even to sigh.

Even sages like Yao and Shun
had unworthy children,
so perhaps there is nothing to grieve over.

Yet the way I see it now,
this heavy feeling in my breast:
to forbid it is hard to bear,
and to leave it alone is painful.

So I forced myself
to make these written words.

Examine every phrase
and every character.

Do not keep a dissipated heart.

Receive this warning of mine.

When the time comes
for us to meet again,
if you have become people
to be looked at with new eyes,
then joy need not even be mentioned:
it will be a great fortune for this household.

See this writing
and change your faults.

Cultivate the Way
as if you were seeing me.

Please, please,
see this writing
and become like others.

If you remain as you are,
and the matters of the future
become pitiful,
will you blame me when you see me?

I too have sent this writing.

If it has no effect,
your fate will be pitiful.

If my words become empty words,
that too will be shameful.

If you too are human beings,
think,
and think again.

Colophon

This Good Works Translation was made from the official Cheondogyo Central Headquarters page for 교훈가 in the Yongdam Yusa. The source text is a nineteenth-century vernacular Korean song attributed to Choe Je-u (Suun, 1824-1864). The Korean source text is public domain; the official site's modern explanatory layer was used only as a checking aid and is not reproduced here.

Source route: Cheondogyo Central Headquarters, 교훈가.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Works Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

🌲

Source Text: 교훈가

Source text follows the public Cheondogyo Central Headquarters page for 교훈가. Modern explanatory notes from that page are not reproduced.

교훈가

1

왈이자질(曰爾子姪) 아이들아 경수차서(敬受此書) 하여스라

너희도 이 세상에 오행(五行)으로 생겨나서

삼강(三綱)을 법을 삼고 오륜(五倫)에 참예(參預)해서

이십 살 자라나니 성문고족(盛門高族) 이내 집안

병수(病數) 없는 너의 거동 보고 나니 경사(慶事)로다

소업(所業) 없이 길러내니 일희일비(一喜一悲) 아닐런가

2

내 역시 이 세상에 자아시(自兒時) 지낸 일을

역력히 생각하니 대저 인간 백천만사(百千萬事)

행(行)코 나니 그뿐이오 겪고 나니 고생일세

그중에 한 가지도 소업성공(所業成功) 바이없어

흉중(胸中)에 품은 회포(懷抱) 일소일파(一笑一罷) 하온 후에

이내 신명(身命) 돌아보니 나이 이미 사십이오

세상 풍속 돌아보니 여차여차우여차(如此如此又如此)라

아서라 이내 신명 이밖에 다시없다

구미용담(龜尾龍潭) 찾아 들어 중한 맹세 다시 하고

부처(夫妻)가 마주앉아 탄식하고 하는 말이

대장부 사십 평생 해음없이 지내나니

이제야 할 길 없네 자호(字號) 이름 다시 지어

불출산외(不出山外) 맹세하니 기의심장(其意深長) 아닐런가

3

슬프다 이내 신명(身命) 이리될 줄 알았으면

윤산(潤産)은 고사하고 부모님께 받은 세업(世業)

근력기중(勤力其中) 하였으면 악의악식(惡衣惡食) 면치마는

경륜(經綸)이나 있는 듯이 효박(淆薄)한 이 세상에

혼자 앉아 탄식하고 그럭저럭 하다가서

탕패산업(蕩敗産業) 되었으니 원망도 쓸데없고

한탄도 쓸데없네 여필종부(女必從夫) 아닐런가

자네 역시 자아시(自兒時)로 호의호식(好衣好食)하던 말을

일시도 아니 말면 부화부순(夫和婦順) 무엇이며

강보(襁褓)에 어린 자식 불인지사(不忍之事) 아닐런가

그 말 저 말 다 던지고 차차차차 지내 보세

천생만민(天生萬民) 하였으니 필수기직(必授其職)할 것이오

명내재천(命乃在天) 하였으니 죽을 염려 왜 있으며

한울님이 사람 낼 때 녹(祿) 없이는 아니 내네

우리라 무슨 팔자 그다지 기험(崎險)할꼬

부하고 귀한 사람 이전 시절 빈천(貧賤)이오

빈하고 천한 사람 오는 시절 부귀(富貴)로세

천운(天運)이 순환(循環)하사 무왕불복(無往不復) 하시나니

그러나 이내 집은 적선적덕(積善積德) 하는 공(功)은

자전자시(自前自是) 고연(固然)이라 여경(餘慶)인들 없을소냐

세세유전(世世遺傳) 착한 마음 잃지 말고 지켜 내서

안빈낙도(安貧樂道) 하온 후에 수신제가(修身齊家) 하여 보세

아무리 세상사람 비방하고 원망 말을

청이불문(聽而不聞) 하여 두고 불의지사(不義之事) 흉한 빛을

시지불견(視之不見) 하여 두고 어린 자식 효유(曉諭)해서

매매사사 교훈하여 어진 일을 본을 받아

가정지업(家庭之業) 지켜 내면 그 아니 낙(樂)일런가

4

이러그러 안심(安心)해서 칠팔 삭(朔) 지내나니

꿈일런가 잠일런가 무극대도(無極大道) 받아 내어

정심수신(正心修身) 하온 후에 다시 앉아 생각하니

우리 집안 여경(餘慶)인가 순환지리(循環之理) 회복인가

어찌 이리 망극한고 전만고(前萬古) 후만고(後萬古)를

역력히 생각해도 글도 없고 말도 없네

대저 생령(生靈) 많은 사람 사람 없어 이러한가

유도불도(儒道佛道) 누천년(累千年)에 운이 역시 다했던가

윤회(輪廻)같이 둘린 운수 내가 어찌 받았으며

억조창생(億兆蒼生) 많은 사람 내가 어찌 높았으며

일 세상 없는 사람 내가 어찌 있었던고

아마도 이 내 일은 잠자다가 얻었던가

꿈꾸다가 받았던가 측량치 못할러라

사람을 가렸으면 나만 못한 사람이며

재질을 가렸으면 나만 못한 재질이며

만단의아(萬端疑訝) 두지마는 한울님이 정하시니

무가내(無可奈)라 할 길 없네 사양지심(辭讓之心) 있지마는

어디 가서 사양하며 문의지심(問疑之心) 있지마는

어디 가서 문의하며 편언척자(片言隻字) 없는 법을

어디 가서 본을 볼꼬 묵묵부답(黙黙不答) 생각하니

고친 자호(字號) 방불(彷彿)하고 어린 듯이 앉았으니

고친 이름 분명하다

5

그럭저럭 할 길 없어 없는 정신 가다듬어

한울님께 아뢰오니 한울님 하신 말씀

너도 역시 사람이라 무엇을 알았으며

억조창생 많은 사람 동귀일체(同歸一體) 하는 줄을

사십 평생 알았더냐 우습다 자네 사람

백천만사(百千萬事) 행할 때는 무슨 뜻을 그러하며

입산한 그 달부터 자호(字號) 이름 고칠 때는

무슨 뜻을 그러한고 소위 입춘(立春) 비는 말은

복록(福祿)은 아니 빌고 무슨 경륜(經綸) 포부(抱負) 있어

세간중인부동귀(世間衆人不同歸)라 의심 없이 지어내어

완연히 붙여두니 세상사람 구경할 때

자네 마음 어떻던고 그런 비위 어디 두고

만고 없는 무극대도(無極大道) 받아 놓고 자랑하니

그 아니 개자한가 세상사람 돌아보고

많고 많은 그 사람에 인지재질(人之才質) 가려내어

총명노둔(聰明魯鈍) 무엇이며 세상사람 저러하여

의아(疑訝) 탄식(歎息) 무엇인고 남만 못한 사람인 줄

네가 어찌 알았으며 남만 못한 재질인 줄

네가 어찌 알잔말고 그런 소리 말았어라

낙지(落地) 이후 첨이로다 착한 운수 둘러 놓고

포태지수(胞胎之數) 정해 내어 자아시(自兒時) 자라날 때

어느 일을 내 모르며 적세만물(萬物) 하는 법과

백천만사(百千萬事) 행하기를 조화(造化) 중에 시켰으니

출등인물(出等人物) 하는 이는 비비유지(比比有之) 아닐런가

지각없는 세상사람 원(願)한 듯이 하는 말이

아무는 이 세상에 재승박덕(才勝薄德) 아닐런가

세전산업(世傳産業) 탕패(蕩敗)하고 구미(龜尾) 용담(龍潭) 일 정각(一亭閣)에

불출산외(不出山外) 하는 뜻은 알다 가도 모를러라

가난한 저 세정(世情)에 세상사람 한데 섞여

아유구용(阿諛苟容) 한다 해도 처자보명(妻子保命) 모르고서

가정지업(家庭之業) 지켜 내어 안빈낙도(安貧樂道) 한단 말은

가소절창(可笑絶脹) 아닐런가 이 말 저 말 붕등(崩騰)해도

내가 알지 네가 알까 그런 생각 두지 말고

정심수도(正心修道) 하여스라 시킨 대로 시행해서

차차차차 가르치면 무궁조화(無窮造化) 다 던지고 포덕천하(布德天下) 할 것이니

차제도법(次第道法) 그뿐일세 법을 정코 글을 지어

입도한 세상사람 그 날부터 군자되어

무위이화(無爲而化) 될 것이니 지상신선(地上神仙) 네 아니냐

6

이 말씀 들은 후에 심독희자부(心獨喜自負)로다

그제야 이 날부터 부처(夫妻)가 마주 앉아

이 말 저 말 다한 후에 희희낙담(喜喜樂談) 그뿐일세

이제는 자네 듣소 이내 몸이 이리 되니

자소시(自少時) 하던 장난 여광여취(如狂如醉) 아닐런가

내 역시 하던 말이 헛말이 옳게 되니

남아 역시 출세(出世) 후에 장난도 할 것이오

헛말인들 아니할까 자네 마음 어떠한고

노처(老妻)의 거동(擧動) 보소 묻는 말은 대답찮고

무릎 안고 입 다시며 세상 소리 서너 마디

근근이 끌어내어 천장만 살피면서

꿈일런가 잠일런가 허허 세상 허허 세상

다같이 세상사람 우리 복이 이러할까

한울님도 한울님도 이리 될 우리 신명(身命)

어찌 앞날 지낸 고생 그다지 시키신고

오늘사 참 말이지 여광여취(如狂如醉) 저 양반을

간 곳마다 따라가서 지질한 그 고생을

눌로 대해 그 말이며 그 중에 집에 들면

장담같이 하는 말이 그 사람도 그 사람도

고생이 무엇인고 이내 팔자 좋을진댄

희락(喜樂)은 벗을 삼고 고생은 희락이라

잔말 말고 따라 가세 공로(空老)할 내 아니라

내 역시 어척없어 얼굴을 뻔히 보며

중심(中心)에 한숨 지어 이적지 지낸 일은

다름이 아니로다 인물 대접 하는 거동

세상사람 아닌 듯고 처자에게 하는 거동

이내 진정 지극하니 천은(天恩)이 있게 되면

좋은 운수 회복할 줄 나도 또한 알았습네

일소일파(一笑一罷) 하온 후에 불승기양(不勝氣揚) 되었더라

7

그럭저럭 지내다가 통개중문(洞開重門) 하여 두고

오는 사람 가르치니 불승감당(不勝堪當) 되었더라

현인군자 모여들어 명명기덕(明明其德) 하여내니

성운성덕(盛運盛德) 분명하다

8

그 모르는 세상사람 승기자(勝己者) 싫어할 줄

무근설화(無根說話) 지어내어 듣지 못한 그 말이며

보지 못한 그 소리를 어찌 그리 자아내서

향(鄕) 안 설화(說話) 분분(紛紛)한고 슬프다 세상사람

내 운수 좋자 하니 네 운수 가련할 줄

네가 어찌 알잔 말고 가련하다 경주향중(慶州鄕中)

무인지경(無人之境) 분명하다 어진 사람 있게 되면

이런 말이 왜 있으며 향중풍속(鄕中風俗) 다 던지고

이내 문운(門運) 가련하다 알도 못한 흉언괴설(凶言怪說)

남보다가 배나 하며 육친(肉親)이 무삼일고

원수같이 대접하며 살부지수(殺父之讐) 있었던가

어찌 그리 원수런고 은원(恩怨)없이 지낸 사람

그중에 싸잡혀서 또 역시 원수 되니

조걸위학(助桀爲虐) 이 아닌가

9

아무리 그리해도 죄 없으면 그뿐일세

아무리 그리하나 나도 세상사람으로

무단(無端)히 사죄(死罪) 없이 모함 중에 들단 말가

이 운수 아닐러면 무죄한들 면할소냐

하물며 이내 집은 과문지취 아닐런가

아서라 이내 신명 운수도 믿지마는

감당도 어려우되 남의 이목(耳目) 살펴 두고

이같이 아니 말면 세상을 능멸(凌蔑)한 듯

관장(官長)을 능멸한 듯 무가내라 할 길 없네

10

무극한 이내 도(道)는 내 아니 가르쳐도

운수 있는 그 사람은 차차차차 받아다가

차차차차 가르치니 내 없어도 당행(當行)일세

행장을 차려내어 수천리를 경영하니

수도하는 사람마다 성지우성(誠之又誠) 하지마는

모우미성(毛羽未成) 너희들을 어찌하고 가잔 말고

잊을 도리 전혀 없어 만단효유(萬端曉諭) 하지마는

차마 못한 이내 회포 역지사지(易地思之) 하여스라

그러나 할 길 없어 일조분리(一朝分離) 되었더라

11

멀고 먼 가는 길에 생각나니 너희로다

객지에 외로 앉아 어떤 때는 생각나서

너희 수도하는 거동 귀에도 쟁쟁하며

눈에도 삼삼하며 어떤 때는 생각나서

일사위법(日事違法) 하는 빛이 눈에도 거슬리며

귀에도 들리는 듯 아마도 너희 거동

일사위법 분명하다 명명(明明)한 이 운수는

원한다고 이러하며 바란다고 이러할까

아서라 너희 거동 아니 봐도 보는 듯다

부자유친(父子有親) 있지마는 운수조차 유친이며

형제일신(兄弟一身) 있지마는 운수조차 일신인가

너희 역시 사람이면 남의 수도하는 법을

응당히 보지마는 어찌 그리 매몰한고

지각없는 이것들아 남의 수도 본을 받아

성지우성(誠之又誠) 공경해서 정심수신(正心修身) 하여스라

아무리 그러해도 이내 몸이 이리 되니

은덕(恩德)이야 있지마는 도성입덕(道成立德) 하는 법은

한 가지는 정성이요 한 가지는 사람이라

부모의 가르침을 아니 듣고 낭유(浪遊)하면

금수(禽獸)에 가직하고 자행자지(自行自止) 아닐런가

우습다 너희 사람 나는 도시 모를러라

부자형제(父子兄弟) 그 가운데 도성입덕(道成立德) 각각이라

대저 세상사람 중에 정성 있는 그 사람은

어진 사람 분명하니 작심(作心)으로 본을 보고

정성 공경 없단 말가 애달하다 너희들은

출등(出等)한 현인(賢人)들은 바랄 줄 아니로되

사람의 아래 되고 도덕에 못 미치면

자작지얼(自作之孽)이라도 나는 또한 한(恨)이로다

운수야 좋거니와 닦아야 도덕이라

너희라 무슨 팔자 불로자득(不勞自得) 되단 말가

해음없는 이것들아 날로 믿고 그러하냐

나는 도시 믿지 말고 한울님을 믿어스라.

네 몸에 모셨으니 사근취원(捨近取遠) 하단 말가

내 역시 바라기는 한울님만 전혀 믿고

해몽(解蒙) 못한 너희들은 서책(書冊)은 아주 폐(廢)코

수도하기 힘쓰기는 그도 또한 도덕이라

문장이고 도덕이고 귀어허사(歸於虛事) 될까 보다

열세자 지극하면 만권시서(萬卷詩書) 무엇하며

심학(心學)이라 하였으니 불망기의(不忘其意) 하여스라

현인군자 될 것이니 도성입덕(道成立德) 못 미칠까

이같이 쉬운 도를 자포자기(自暴自棄) 하단 말가

애달다 너희 사람 어찌 그리 매몰한고

탄식하기 괴롭도다 요순(堯舜)같은 성현(聖賢)들도

불초자식(不肖子息) 두었으니 한(恨)할 것이 없다마는

우선에 보는 도리 울울한 이내 회포

금(禁)차 하니 난감(難堪)이오 두자 하니 애달해서

강작(强作)히 지은 문자 귀귀자자(句句字字) 살펴 내어

방탕지심(放蕩之心) 두지 말고 이내 경계(警戒) 받아내어

서로 만날 그 시절에 괄목상대(刮目相對) 되게 되면

즐겁기는 고사하고 이내 집안 큰 운수라

이 글 보고 개과(改過)하여 날 본 듯이 수도하라

부디부디 이 글 보고 남과같이 하여스라.

너희 역시 그렇다가 말래지사(末來之事) 불민(不憫)하면

날로 보고 원망할까 내 역시 이 글 전해

효험 없이 되게 되면 네 신수 가련하고

이내 말 헛말 되면 그 역시 수치로다

너희 역시 사람이면 생각고 생각할까

Source Colophon

The source text follows the official Cheondogyo Central Headquarters public page for 교훈가, accessed in July 2026. The source is a nineteenth-century vernacular Korean Donghak song attributed to Choe Je-u; modern explanatory material on the official page was used as an internal check only and is not reproduced.

🌲