Mackay

Mackay

George Leslie Mackay (March 21, 1844 - June 2, 1901) devoted his life to the priest in Formosa (Taiwan).

brief introduction

George Leslie Mackay (March 21, 1844 - June 2, 1901) devoted his life to the priest in Formosa (Taiwan). In Han Dynasty, his name is Kai Ruili, but in Taiwan, he is generally called "Dr. Ma Kai". His father, a Scottish tenant farmer, fled to Canada and gave birth to Mackay in Ontario. He graduated from the theology Department of Princeton University in 1870 and returned to Canada. At the end of the same year, he went to Edinburgh University for further study.

Missionary work

At that time, the expansion of Christianity in the East was very prosperous, so the Presbyterian Church of Canada sent Mackay to preach in the East in 1871. Mackay first came to Hong Kong, and then traveled through Guangzhou, Shantou and other places in China. He arrived in Taiwan in 1871 and began to preach and learn Minnan language in Huwei (now Tanshui Town, Taipei County). Besides having more than 20 churches in Danshui, CaoHua (today's Wanhua), Xikou (today's Songshan), Dadaocheng, Wugu, Miaoli, Taipei, Keelung and Hsinchu, they also travel around to spread the gospel. In 1883, Mackay went to Yilan, Hualien and other Aboriginal places to preach. In 1887, the su'ao church was founded. Later, in order to enable women to be taken care of, Mackay decided to marry a Taiwanese woman. Later, Mackay found his other half, Ms. Zhang Congming, in wuguzhuang (now Wugu Township, Taipei County), and got married in 1878.

Medical / educational dedication

In 1882, Mackay set up a medical center in Huwei to commemorate her husband and assist him in missionary work. He often helped others with tooth extraction by the side of the road with his assistant. Mackay recorded in his diary how many teeth he had extracted yesterday and how many today. Throughout his life, Mackay was always happy More than 21000 teeth have been extracted for Taiwanese. During the Sino French war, the French army invaded northern Taiwan. The frightened people were hostile to all foreigners and Christians, so they gathered together to demolish the church and dig out the cornerstone. However, as a result of the French army's heavy bombing of Tanshui, both inside and outside the hospital were full of wounded soldiers. Mackay was praised by the Qing government for his dedicated care of them. After that, Oxford college was founded. Two years later, in 1884, the first female school for women was established in the east of Oxford School. In the first session, 34 students were enrolled, not only free of tuition, but also subsidized transportation, food, housing and clothing. However, the Han people at that time were constrained by the traditional ethics. The rich didn't want the women in their families to appear in public. The poor didn't know how to receive education. As a result, it was the gamalan people in Ilan who Ma Kai once preached. Since 1890, Mackay began to preach in Huadong area. He returned to Canada in 1893.

Death

In 1900, Mackay visited the church in Ilan for the last time. When he returned to Tanshui, he suffered from laryngeal cancer and became hoarse. Even when Oxford School began, he was unable to teach. Later, his throat ulcerated and all the food he had swallowed flowed out of the hole in his throat. Knowing that the time of God's call was coming, he suddenly ran to the school to ring the bell and summon the students Gather together and finish the last class. On June 2, 1901, Mackay died of illness and bid farewell to his missionary career. It is said that in memory of the priest who sacrificed his life for Taiwan, there are still people surnamed Kai in the gamalans.

work

In 1895, Mackay's missionary diary in Taiwan was published as "from far Formosa" by his good friend MacDonald. This book was also published in Taiwan in the 1950s. The Chinese translated versions of "Taiwan remote mail" and "six chapters of Taiwan" are precious historical materials for Taiwan's Christian history. However, because the old version has been out of print for a long time, it was re translated into "records of Formosa: Mackay's memoirs in Taiwan" in 2007.

In 2012, which is also the 140th anniversary of Mackay's arrival in Taiwan, the complete Chinese version of Mackay's diary written by him in Taiwan will be released for the first time. More than 700000 words of Mackay's diary will be published in three volumes, and the truth University will hold a "Mackay academic seminar" in June.

opera

In 2002, the Council commissioned Taiwan composer Jin Xiwen and screenwriter Qiu yuan to create an opera based on the local story of Taiwan, which took five years to plan. In 2008, the two halls released a three act opera "Formosa letter - black beard Mackay" sung in Taiwan / English.

documentary

The centennial history of Taiwan in 2003

Theatre

History of Taiwan people in 2008

Chinese PinYin : Ma Xie