30-Second Overview:
In 1872, 28-year-old George Leslie Mackay stepped ashore in Tamsui (淡水), beginning a 30-year bond with Taiwan. He was not only the first overseas missionary in northern Taiwan but also a dentist, educator, natural scientist, and son-in-law to Taiwan. He extracted over 20,000 teeth to earn trust, founded Oxford College and Taiwan's first school for girls, and collected hundreds of plant and animal specimens during his missionary journeys. His spirit of "rather burn out than rust out" remains a landmark in Taiwan's modernization history.
The "Black-Bearded Barbarian" on the Tamsui Riverbank
On March 9, 1872, a steamship named Hai Lung slowly sailed into the Tamsui River estuary. Standing on board was a young Canadian man with a thick black beard — George Leslie Mackay. He was only 28 years old, carrying the meager funds allotted by the Presbyterian Church in Canada in his pocket, but his heart was filled with a resolve to dedicate his life to this island.
The residents of Tamsui at the time were deeply hostile toward this "black-bearded barbarian." When Mackay walked the streets, he often faced verbal abuse, spitting, and even stone-throwing. To integrate into the community, the first thing he did was not open a Bible — he walked into the fields. He found the hired Taiwanese teacher too rigid in instruction, so he turned instead to the cowherd boys on the hillsides. He took out a pocket watch, using its ticking sound to attract the children, trading it for one authentic Taiwanese word after another. In less than six months, he could chat — and even debate — fluently with farmers in Taiwanese.
📝 Curator's Note: Mackay's success did not come from profound doctrine but from his willingness to bend down and learn the humblest language from shepherd children. This posture of "identification" was the key to his later ability to penetrate deep into Taiwanese society.
The Compassion Behind 20,000 Teeth
Perhaps the image of Mackay most deeply rooted in Taiwanese hearts is not of him standing at a pulpit preaching, but of him holding dental forceps to extract teeth for the people. In 19th-century Taiwan, toothaches were a nightmare for many, and the medical environment was extremely scarce. Mackay realized that rather than speaking abstractly about faith, it was better to directly address people's suffering.
Beginning in 1873, Mackay carried dental forceps with him on every missionary journey. He recorded in his diary that he personally extracted over 21,000 teeth in his lifetime. He often pulled teeth at temple entrances, under large trees, or even roadside on the spot. This "one hand holding the Bible, the other holding the forceps" approach to medical missionary work completely dissolved the locals' wariness. The "Hobe Hospital" (滬尾醫館) he founded in Tamsui was not only the first Western hospital in northern Taiwan but also the predecessor of today's Mackay Memorial Hospital.
"Since 1873, I have personally extracted over twenty-one thousand teeth." — George Leslie Mackay, From Far Formosa
📝 Curator's Note: Tooth extraction at the time was not merely a medical act — it was a social ritual. Every tooth that fell represented a Taiwanese family's trust in this foreigner.
Into the Mountains and Along the Coast: Guardian of Indigenous Peoples
Mackay's missionary footsteps covered all of northern Taiwan. From Tamsui, he crossed the Caoling Historic Trail (草嶺古道) and ventured deep into the Kavalan (噶瑪蘭, present-day Yilan) plain. His influence on the Pingpu indigenous peoples — particularly the Kavalan — was especially profound. In the 1880s, he established over 30 churches on the Lanyang Plain in just a few years, with over 2,000 baptisms.
He was not only a missionary but also an early anthropologist and explorer. He visited remote Atayal (泰雅族) villages, and despite language barriers and the threat of headhunting, he still attempted to build connections through medical services. He documented a vast amount of indigenous customs and artifacts, and these precious materials later became the foundation for Taiwan's first privately run museum, the "Oxford College Museum."
Scientific Exploration: Collecting the Soul of Formosa
Beyond religion and medicine, Mackay was also a passionate natural scientist. When leading students on outdoor preaching trips, he always carried a collection box with him. He showed immense curiosity about Taiwan's flora, fauna, minerals, and geology. In his memoirs, he recorded in detail tree ferns, acacia trees, and even Taiwan's endemic snakes and ferns.
He collected over 80 snake specimens and more than 50 species of ferns, sending some back to Canadian universities for identification. His scientific observations of Taiwan's natural environment earned him a place in Western academic circles of the time. For Mackay, studying the natural wonders of this island was itself an act of reverence for God's creation.
📝 Curator's Note: Mackay's "slash" identity — pastor, physician, teacher, scientist — embodied the 19th-century polymath spirit, and his observations of Taiwan went beyond religion to include scientific depth.
Oxford College and Tiuⁿ Chhông-bêng: The Courage to Break Barriers
In 1882, Mackay used donations from his hometown community of Oxford County to found the "Oxford College" (理學堂大書院, commonly known as 牛津學堂) in Tamsui. This was not only Taiwan's first modern Western-style school, but its curriculum also covered scientific subjects such as geography, astronomy, anatomy, and geology.
Even more revolutionary was the "Tamsui Women's School" (淡水女學堂) he co-founded with his wife Tiuⁿ Chhông-bêng (張聰明) in 1884. In an era when "a woman's lack of talent was considered a virtue," Mackay insisted on educating women, regardless of class, and even waived tuition fees. His wife Tiuⁿ Chhông-bêng's own story is a legend: originally a child bride (童養媳), after marrying Mackay she not only learned English and piano but also traveled around the world with him, delivering a speech in English in Canada. She was the first Taiwanese woman to embark on a round-the-world journey and a key driving force behind the women's school.
📝 Curator's Note: Mackay married a Taiwanese woman and made her a teacher at the women's school — an extremely rare and progressive decision among Western missionaries of that era. This was not merely a cross-cultural marriage; it was his ultimate declaration of having thoroughly "Taiwanized" himself.
Rather Burn Out Than Rust Out
On June 2, 1901, Mackay died of throat cancer in Tamsui at the age of 57. He lived out the motto he repeatedly mentioned in his diary: "Rather burn out, than rust out." He chose not to be buried in the Westerners' cemetery in Tamsui but instead on the campus of Tamsui Middle School, to remain forever with his Taiwanese followers.
Before his death, he left behind a poem titled The Taiwan I Love Deeply (我衷心所愛的台灣), expressing his devotion to this island:
"The Taiwan I love deeply — I have devoted my whole life to you. The Taiwan I love deeply — there I found my joy."
Mackay's story is a moving chapter of how a foreigner, through understanding, respect, and devotion, ultimately became part of the very bloodstream of this island. Today, as we walk the streets of Tamsui, gaze upon the red-brick Oxford College, or step into Mackay Hospital, we can still feel the heat of that life that continues to burn.
References / Sources
- Mackay Digital Museum — Biography of George Leslie Mackay
- National Cultural Memory Bank — Dr. Mackay and Ms. Tiuⁿ Chhông-bêng
- Presbyterian Church in Taiwan History — Rev. George Leslie Mackay
- Tamsui Wiki — Mackay
- George Leslie Mackay, From Far Formosa: The Island, its People and Missions, 1895.
- Environmental Information Center — Piecing Together the Gaps in Memory: Mackay and Taiwan's Natural History
- Taiwan Church News — Pearls of the Lanyang Plain: Mackay's Crown of Mission
- Wu Yonghua (吳永華), Taiwan Plant Expeditions (台灣植物探險), Chenxing Publishing, 1999.