Remembering George Leslie Mackay I Love to Look up to Its Lofty Peaks, Down Into Its Yawning Chasms, and Away out on Its Surging Seas
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! a - 4 « # 1 « ” a * ^ S + <Xib« ’ + - JU 'A ^W F O iffi ! O A 4 } O iO f t ■> W ’r o w ^ f l ! <-4W R««it° • 4 A 9 O O ® 1? - > «S (-4*ftW ft* •. ( M ® A ft--- # ft ft £ > How dear is Formosa to my heart! On that island the best of my years have been spent. How dear is Formosa to my heart! A lifetime of joy is centered here. Remembering George Leslie Mackay I love to look up to its lofty peaks, down into its yawning chasms, and away out on its surging seas. How willing I am to gaze upon these forever! My heart’s ties to Taiwan cannot be severed! To that island I devote my life. My heart’s ties to Taiwan cannot be severed! There I find my joy. I should like to find a final resting place within sound of its surf and under the shade of its waving bamboo. — “My Final Resting Place” by George Mackay. <8® - ^ iiP ifW R - ESULl^ ZK ' M M • As a missionary, Mackay showed an extraordinary love for the road. Carrying simple baskets as luggage, he and his students would set off in all directions, fording streams and climbing mountains in order to spread the word of God. $ Remembering George Leslie Mackay ow dear is Formosa to my heart! On The ancient Greeks had four different sit that island the best of my years have words fo r love, which separately described i t H TF been spent. love o f fa m ily, platonic love between How dear is Formosa to my heart! A life frien d s, the love between a man and & ( x S»£ ■ 2 aasweagm time of joy is centered here. woman, and the love o f gods and deities. ’ J U >5A<M lc?3~ IS I love to look up to its lofty peaks, down For George Leslie Mackay and other mis l i » ’ into its yawning chasms, and away out on its sionaries who decided to devote their lives to M^PSM^W^+EBPJT » surging seas. How willing I am to gaze upon Taiwan before ever setting foot on the is On a trip from Tanshui to Ilan, - A - t x ^ H ^ ’ r these forever! land, their love o f Taiwan was the selfless George Mackay passed through + * > £ ’ Santiaolin. He established a total of a ft #«.<««.& # ° 6W& ’ (AW Wl'lW^ ’ W>PA W « J W O T ’ My heart’s ties to Taiwan cannot be sev love o f God. 60 Presbyterian churches in Taiwan, ered! To that island I devote my life. As the hundredth anniversary o f including 34 in Ilan alone. My heart’s ties to Taiwan cannot be sev M ackay’s death approaches, perhaps ex ® ° ered! There I find my joy. amining his life will stir people to reflect O » ’ fW A & M H I-m I should like to find a final resting place upon what has become o f Taiwan today, brought foreign soldiers to Taiwan’s %± ’ M A ^ W W o within sound of its surf and under the shade when the economy, society, and people’s shores in successive waves of inva ft# ’ O # 4 iL ftS & £ ° m ° of its waving bamboo. hearts and minds are all in turmoil. sion, the seas also brought Western mission Mfg ’ ^ W A M t ^ i m i t t ’ O ® 7 £ f t m $ W ’ M — “My Final Resting Place” by George aries who came with hearts full of love. The Mackay. During the 19th century, when gunboats environment imposed enormous obstacles to ^ ± ’ W I M O M T O 4 ^ 3 = ^ iW ^ X lW = i W W &gg ° ’ mMMfWsSIW^ 0 4 # ftS iO ! f t- 4 ° m x -v m iw ’ Mfwxran^A i^75^lU7K50fi _> M m t j i m ? W W W r B W ^ A i S ^ ’ ’ IW -^SSiW U M ^T FT JIL - i W A K ^ r ^ j o B§SJ - ° ° » a a A ± fta A it - 4 A M ° im ’ The scenery of Nanfangao is like that of a traditional Chinese Pulling teeth was one of Mackay’s favorite opening gambits to gain landscape painting, but Mackay came here mostly to spread the the trust of the locals. He pulled some 21,000 teeth'all told in his M ± ’ T ^ ’ i r w - M ^ ^ l h wm= ’ W « gospel among the local plains aborigines. years in Taiwan. ’ £ < ° W & M tW M iim ’ i W W i r o m i » ’ <M ^^<---- < « « » ’ S X ^ IA r M ^ j ' # ¥ J 3 W ° M W M ^ A ^ ^ fflW E ° J ISIBJ ^ F J ° f L A ^ A D if-A^ ’ © K -A -t-* ^ ’ M » r g j , ' &AMAU1WA ’ M (W » < ^ M r¥ O J $ iW ° ¥ ’ $W A IEf«fire > fS ' ' & ° ^ifii ’ ’ i^ W W A W Ifm ° W - A A £ ¥ ’ BH ° J ’ M M W O T B sm if ’ 0 m $ W * W ’ £ ’ m o ^ m ° X + A ^ ’ A ^ A 'A A ° M W M T r ^ t g ^ j ° 2 sinorama 3 US carrying out their work, but their efforts left a IW gggj KSSUffiKSiglS big imprint on society and resulted in many - ' W S TOOK ° OTDWB praiseworthy accomplishments. B S S - ’ BIB = I W W M I f f ’ ± B K ^ » George Mackay was one such foreign The Mackay Memorial One of the churches missionary, and his name is still quite famil Hospital, which was a ^ w a t s t s i • that Mackay designed established in 1879, iar to Taiwanese. Few. however, know much himself .had a six was the first Western r^BAa®ffl ' M 8 S M about his life. storied sharply pointed medical facility in M ■ S « « » J r ^ j n - w i m pagoda-like steeple, northern Taiwan. Mackay was born in Zorra, Ontario in geometrical ornamen Mackay is standing in $ « A . » S ’ 4 A A W A • 1844, the youngest of six children. From an tation on the walls, and the doorway. early age. he aspired to become a missionary. gothic windows. It's an j r a ^ m i | f i a i ! ' 8 « R eye-catching mix of > aw *® ■ m m But when he stated his desire as a child, in Chinese and Western stead of being encouraged, he was called an elements &f^S - S A M W a S M S ■ » “excitable youth” or “religious zealot.” MB • - J Identifying with Taiwan - ¥ » - - W f 6 O 9 8 A In 1871. in the twilight years of the Qing »i»Jli'9iW ° ttBeW TtR^lffl dynasty, when men in Taiwan still sported $ pigtails and women still hobbled along on j j a j m a a : lit sit bound feet, George Mackay arrived here by represented by a written character.” him thus: “Of average height and burly- W J ° W I W I I I M W rB®SWi®£ ' WWW ' boat from across the Pacific Ocean. < After studying for five months, Mackay chested. he was bold, knowledgeable and en TF Tf ’ M«K*A But Mackay wasn’t the first foreign mis was capable of conversing in Taiwanese. Af ergetic. He had dark eyes, and his hair and A ’ m o i m s i ’ IM = » R K ttR W S B a S -J r « A sionary in Taiwan. Dr. James Maxwell had ter 20 years. Mackay published a Taiwanese- beard were black too. His voice was strong & established himself in southern Taiwan as English dictionary based on his thorough re and piercing, and he spoke with great confi early as 1865, so Mackay decided after arriv B W i ’ W S t t S ......° J ’ ZEiWI search. dence. He was a gifted speaker and ing to make a new start in northern Taiwan. Mackay's oldest son William described had native-like fluency in Chinese.” « w w ’ w ' iw m ’ ” irtk W A ^#HJI M I W S I B ’ In March of 1872 Mackay boarded the Open sesame BtffWA ’ i£ g $ » g f s ° M r ^ r ^ j » Hai lung (“Sea Dragon”) in Kaohsiung, and Despite all Mackay’s effort and A W i W » ’ 4 W S lfr» m ■ M J E t » J arrived in the northern port of Keelung three talent, in predominately Buddhist ’ ^IM A M o j B^ M A A ’ s i j A m M i t t i w w s « « ' days later. and Taoist Taiwan, there were As the first missionary in the area. times when crowds heckled him, or f » o o £ ’ -iw ’ ’ 3 c w • - m u Mackay faced huge obstacles to accomplish ° even threw stones or excrement at ’ B W M « W r ’ t W « ’ W J ffl i w a • M M s a ^ iia ^ a w even the smallest of tasks. We can only George Leslie Mackay’s feelings for Taiwan him. ran long and deep. After his death, his son W S M ° imagine how hard it must have been. In the George William Mackay and his wife “Many people gathered around us, shout ° r a f l W r W > view of Reverend Luo Jung-kuang, a Presby returned to Taiwan, where they worked as ing, ‘A barbarians’ religion. A barbarians’ terian minister, Mackay accomplished sev missionaries for more than 50 years. When religion. Let’s kill him .. ” HM** • s!<®WfigE®± • 5W - the younger Mackay died, he was buried eral very difficult things, including marrying "It was at Go-ko-khi. the first station es = W % ’ # W ’ IGfUi ^ a ^ s A m w ta ° J StfWM® ’ M *® #? > next to his father in Tanshui.