Dr George Leslie Mackay (偕叡理 = Kai Sūi-lí or 馬偕 = Má-kai), the first (modern) missionary to northern Taiwan, was born in Zorra , Oxford County, Canada West (now Ontario), Canada, on 21 March 1844.

Educated in Zorra Township, Woodstock, Ontario, University of Toronto in Toronto, Princeton Seminary in the United States of America, and New College, Edinburgh in Scotland, he was sent by the Canada Presbyterian Church, a predecessor of the Presbyterian Church in Canada (also see the United Church of Canada) in 1871; he arrived in Taiwan in early 1872. After consulting with Dr James Laidlaw Maxwell Snr, the first (modern) missionary to Formosa (who was working in the north of the island), he arrived at Tamsui in 1872. He worked in Tamsui until his death. Starting with a dentistry practice amongst the lowland aborigines, he later established churches, schools and a hospital. He married Tiuⁿ Chhang-miâ, a lowland aborigine. Today, some families in Taiwan trace their surname '偕' ('Kai' or 'Kay') to their conversion to Christianity by Mackay. The churches he planted became the Northern Synod of the present Presbyterian Church in Taiwan. In 1896, he met with the Japanese Governor-General of Formosa, Maresuke Nogi.

In Canada, he was honoured during his furloughs by the Presbyterian Church in Canada. In 1880, Queen's College, Kingston, Ontario, awarded him the Doctor of Divinity from Principal George Monro Grant and Chancellor Sandford Fleming. Before departing again in 1881, he returned to Oxford County, where monies were raised to start Oxford College in Taiwan, and a number of young people in the county were inspired to follow Mackay example, and go into missionary service of a number of Christian denominations. In June 1894, Mackay was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, meeting in Saint John, New Brunswick|St. John]], New Brunswick. He pent the following Moderatoral year travelling across Canada, and From Far Formosa was written.

Mackay died of throat cancer on June 2 1901. He was buried near Oxford College (牛津學堂; now Aletheia University , 真理大學) in Tamsui. A major private sector hospital in downtown Taipei had been named in his honour. In recent years, Mackay has been rescued from obscurity as part of the rise of Taiwanese nationalism and the associated state projects of constructing a Taiwanese identity and Taiwan centred histories.

On 2004-06-30 , a large bust statue of George Leslie Mackay was dedicated outside the Oxford County offices in Woodstock, Ontario. There was a large delegation from Taiwan, including representatives from Aletheia University , The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, the Presbyterian Church in Canada, the United Church of Canada, as well as local, regional, and national dignitaries, and a number of his descendents from across North America.

External links

• MacKay and Taiwan, in the website of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, Canada
• Full text of The Black-Bearded Barbarian: the life of George Leslie Mackay of Formosa by Marian Keith, from Project Gutenberg
• "Aborigines Saved Yet Again: Settler Nationalism and Hero Narratives in a 2001 Exhibition of Taiwan Aboriginal Artefacts" by Mark Munsterhjelm, MA Thesis, Indigenous Governance Program, University of Victoria, Canada.
• "Tourism Oxford, (Oxford County, Ontario, Canada) Coulourful Characters; Rev. George Leslie Mackay 1844-1901."