Taiwan Today

George Leslie Mackay (1844-1901) has been widely ac­claimed as the founder of the Canadian Presbyterian mis­sion in northern Taiwan. Judging from his background, he came fundamentally pre­pared for the arduous service demanded of an evangelical missionary. Born in the backwoods of Ontario of strict Calvinist parents who had emigrated from the high­ lands of Scotland, Mackay (rhymes with "guy") was endowed with a pioneering spirit and strong religious convictions. He aspired to become a missionary abroad at the age of ten, when his area of Canada was toured by two well-known Scottish Free Church evangelists who pioneered Presby­terian missionary work in India and China.

Mackay had a chance to emulate this pair of venerable evangelists after com­pleting his training for the ministry in Ed­inburgh. In 1871, he was chosen as the first foreign missionary of the Presby­terian Church from Canada and was as­ signed to China. The following year, he reached the port town of Hobe (present­ day Tamsui), where he established his North Formosa Mission. He served as its director for twenty-nine years, until his death there in June 1901.

Mackay's book, From Far Formosa, covers his missionary activities and recol­lections of Taiwan after twenty-three years of service. He produced this work during his second furlough in Canada, in response to growing interest both in Mackay as a missionary hero and in "Ilha Formosa," the little-known land just acquired by Japan through warfare with China. Mackay, how­ever, had time only to collect his notes and other records and to supervise its drafting. His colleague in Ontario, the Reverend J. A. Macdonald, compiled the work before Mackay departed once again for Taiwan in October 1895. As the editor, Macdonald at­tempted not only to preserve the integrity and substance of Mackay's written ac­ counts, but also, as he put it, "to retain something of the vigor, the boldness, the Celtic enthusiasm, so characteristic of Dr. Mackay's public speech."

The book highlights Mackay's dedi­cation to his calling as well as the industry and boundless energy that made him seem "the busiest man in China" to his Western friends in Tamsui. Moreover, it portrays the aggressive evangelism that led him at times to confront the local "heathen" and preach against their "idola­try" on the very steps of their temples. The book, in effect, is a personal account depicting Mackay's Christian triumphs and missionary success. It shows how he spread the gospel, won converts, and es­tablished a flourishing mission in north­ern Taiwan. It also tells how he gradually overcame the stigma of being labeled a "black-bearded" devil and, instead, gained widespread respect among the in­ habitants as "Pastor Mackay" ("Kai Bok-su").

As the subtitle suggests, Mackay's book also contains considerable informa­tion concerning Taiwan and its people. The most noteworthy data derive from firsthand observations made during long journeys with a few of his male students in tow. His chapter on headhunting is in­sightful, and his descriptions of the flora and fauna of that period are of historical value. Nevertheless, Mackay's book centers mainly on his own missionary accomplishments. Significant matters affecting the Canadian Presbyterian effort, particu­larly in the context of Taiwan's early modem development, oftentimes are only casually mentioned.

Mackay arrived in Tamsui in March 1872 and was in­spired by the scenery and the challenge of spreading the gospel among northern Taiwan's teeming population. Knowing that no other missionaries were in the region, he resolved to establish a mission there.

Other considerations undoubtedly entered his mind as well. Tamsui was a treaty port, and the protective British consuI assigned to Taiwan happened to reside there. Significantly, Mackay located his mission headquarters near the consulate, which occupied the old Dutch fort on the hill overlooking the town. Furthermore, by the time of his arrival, Tamsui had be­ gun to prosper. Trade was increasing and more Chinese and Western firms were in evidence, especially in the upriver towns. The infant tea industry was also attracting Chinese residents and settlers to the Taipei basin and its uplands. Al­ though Mackay merely takes note of these developments in his book, they were definitely worthy of his attention. The influx of Chinese newcomers fos­tered elements receptive to his foreign religion, while economic prosperity ena­bled even rural congregations to build chapels.

Mackay was also fortunate in that the political center of Taiwan soon began to shift from the southern part of the island to the north at a time when reform policies were being initiated by the authorities in China. The creation, in 1875, of a new prefecture—one that encompassed the four districts of his mission—brought about more effective government and led to the construction of a northern capital, Taipei-fu (Taipei prefecture), the precursor of modern-day Taipei city. Further change ensued after a progressive gover­nor was appointed some ten years later. Although Mackay does not specifically indicate how the North Formosa Mission fared under the new provincial adminis­tration, it is clear that he and his students took advantage of some of the physical improvements. They journeyed by steam launch upriver to where wharves had been built, and in their more distant tours they traveled by train on the newly constructed railroad almost as far as Hsinchu and Keelung.

In his book, however, Mackay tends to dwell on the more strenuous journeys he made by foot or sometimes by sea craft along the east coast. Adventurous by na­ture, he appears to have relished traveling to remote places, including small offshore islands and northern portions of the lofty Central Range. Nonetheless, during his frequent trips, he took pains to visit peri­odically the scattered churches and out­ stations of his mission. This territory stretched beyond the Taipei basin and along the western coastal plains as far south as the Tachia River and inland through the southern reaches of Mt. Hsueh. On the east coast it embraced the greater Keelung area and the Han plain. The narrow Hualien plain well to the south of Han came to be an adjunct of the North Formosa Mission due to Mackay's extraordinary missionary efforts.

Judging from Mackay's map of northern Taiwan, a majority of the Pres­byterian congregations were relatively accessible to the mission headquarters at Hobe. Most of these were situated along rivers within the Taipei basin. Others were scattered along the Keelung River eastward to the port of Keelung. With the advent of modern transportation, the chapels at these riverine sites could be more conveniently reached during his fre­quent trips. The more distant congrega­tions formed in Hsinchu and Miaoli required arduous treks, although some were near the main north-south thorough­ fare. It was the lengthy journeys to outsta­tions located on the periphery of the mountain range and to the congregations scattered along the east coast that tested Mackay's endurance and prompted some of his most astute observations.

Among other things, Mackay noticed the pressures that the Chinese population and culture were exerting on the indig­enous peoples in these more remote areas. Acculturated plains-dwelling natives, the Pepohoan, were being crowded out of their settlements in llan, while the younger members of the tribe were under­ going rapid assimilation.

Farther south, within the confines of the Hualien plain, Mackay discovered an­ other submissive native group that seemed to be vanishing. These villagers were caught between the enervating influ­ences of Chinese soldiers and traders and the assaults of headhunters concealed in steep mountainous terrain. Elsewhere, along the western fringes of the Central Range, Mackay witnessed conflicts be­tween Hakka frontiersmen and the dwin­dling mountain tribes. On the other hand, he noted that in certain towns and ham­ lets of Hsinchu and Miaoli, the young Hakkas were fast learning Fukienese, the southern Fukien dialect. Even the hardy Hakka inhabitants in these localities ap­peared to face eventual obliteration through contact with the preponderant Fukien population.

A key to Mackay's success as a mis­sionary lay in his ability to speak Fukienese fluently. On his arrival in Taiwan he strove hard to master this Chinese dia­lect until he could readily converse and preach in it and even debate with the local literati. His linguistic skills enabled him to win converts and followers among inhab­itants of many walks of life. They in­cluded not only Fukien people, but also Hakkas and acculturated natives conver­sant in the dialect.

Converts from among these various ethnic groups, in turn, were instrumental in forming congregations in their respec­tive communities. Most congregations were made up of Fukien members, but at least a few in Hsinchu and Miaoli were composed of Hakkas, or else had Hakkas in their memberships. In llan, the many congregations established throughout the plain attracted Pepohoan worshippers. Mackay mentions that some of the nine­teen Presbyterian chapels constructed there had mixed Chinese-Pepohoan con­gregations. Even in the remote llan re­gion, missionary success depended in part on the mastery of Fukien, by then the lingua franca of northern Taiwan.

Mackay's book reveals other reasons for his success as well. From early on, he found that simple dentistry, performed in the open, helped to overcome prejudice and win over the inhabitants. Mackay reckoned he had extracted more than twenty-one thousand teeth during a twenty-year period. A display of his for­ceps and Bible usually preceded his gos­pel preaching and at times enabled him to survive the wrath of hostile mobs, as hap­pened in 1877 when he boldly endeavored to establish a church in Bang-kah (now the Wanhua district of Taipei), a large port town notorious for its anti-foreign sentiment. His treatment of the dreaded malarial fever likewise brought about gratitude and widespread goodwill. Mackay also discovered that by performing Christian marriage ceremonies he could alleviate suspicions about his for­eign religion and gain entree to local households and communities.

Mackay began early to help create congregations in receptive communities close to Hobe. The first congregation to build a chapel was situated in a rural vil­lage ten miles upriver. When Mackay baptized five converts just a year after his arrival, he assigned one of them—his first student—to preach there. This pro­cedure became the means by which he strove to establish self-supporting churches and a native ministry. Congre­gations were formed, elders were se­lected, and attractive chapels were eventually built and paid for mainly by the members. Trained Chinese or Pepohoan preachers were assigned to each church. Bible-women also became part of this native ministry, for local matrons turned out to be some of the most effective workers.

By the time of his first furlough in 1880-1881, Mackay had es­tablished twenty congregations with chapels. He realized that the mission required schools to train a larger native ministry as well as to supply better facilities for its medical work. Back in Canada, he managed to attract financial support for these needs. The people of his home county, Oxford, Ontario, raised sufficient funds for a seminary, called "Oxford College," for educating male stu­dents to become native preachers.

The Women's Foreign Missionary Society of the Canadian church followed up with contributions for the construction of a girls' school for training Bible­ women. Meanwhile, in 1880, a Detroit widow sent money to establish a hospital in memory of her late husband. The two schools, housed in imposing Western­ style buildings, were erected side by side on the hill overlooking Hobe and formed part of the mission headquarters. The new hospital, which became known as "Mackay Hospital," was situated near the foot of the hill closer to town in order to serve the general population as well.

Over the next decade, Mackay busily engaged in administration and teaching at the mission headquarters. Still, he managed to spend considerable time in the field. The mission's report for 1895, as cited in his book, suggests the extent of his achievement. By then, the mission had sixty chapels, each with a native preacher and a dispensary, and claimed an enrollment totaling 2,633 baptized mem­bers and 1,738 communicants. That year the hospital administered more than ten thousand treatments to church members and inhabitants at large, while the chapel dispensaries and outstations treated many others.

Such accomplishments, evidence of Mackay's missionary success, resulted not just from his efforts alone. He had many helpers besides his students and other zealous inhabitants. They included a few young Canadian missionaries, who were sent over as aides or medical practi­tioners from time to time, and his own wife, a local Chinese convert whom he married at the British consulate in 1878. Support was also rendered by Western residents in Tamsui and by the Presbyte­rian Church and its membership in Canada. Mackay likewise acknowledged the warm welcome he received from English Presbyterian missionaries in southern Taiwan when he first came to the island. Although his contacts with these missionaries were infrequent there­ after, the friendly relationship he main­tained with that older mission, founded in 1865, served as a source of comfort and inspiration.

Although he was successful, Mackay suffered setbacks. He began his mission­ary work in a hostile environment and at first was often ill-received or driven off by the inhabitants. Occasionally, some of his converts were molested or killed. Mackay experienced his greatest difficulties dur­ing the French attack on northern Taiwan in 1884-1885. At that time, xenophobic mobs destroyed seven churches and dam­aged others, and congregation members faced torture and death. The mission headquarters at Hobe was also threatened with destruction when French warships bombarded Tamsui. Mackay again felt concern for his mission during the Japa­nese military occupation in 1895. How­ever, after his return to Taiwan late in that year, the prospects soon brightened under orderly Japanese rule.

Had Mackay lived to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the North Formosa Mission in 1912, he would have had rea­sons to be optimistic about its future. The northern and southern Presbyterian mis­sions had recently united, and the formation of a self-supporting native church in Taiwan was under way, as he had envi­sioned. Plans for a new middle school were also afoot. Moreover, the Mackay Memorial Hospital, named after Mackay himself, had just opened in Taipei (then Taihoku). In the progressive atmosphere of early twentieth-century Taiwan, even the demanding "Pastor Mackay" would have been pleased with the results of his contributions as an evangelist, educator, traveling dentist, and medic—and, above all, as the founder of an increasingly in­ dependent Presbyterian mission based on Scottish Free Church ideals.—Harry J. Lamley is professor of Chinese history at the University of Hawaii-Manoa in Honolulu.