2014年5月13日 星期二

Who shot George William Mackay

It has remained a mystery as to who shot Dr George William Mackay (偕叡廉, 1882-1963), son of Rev George Leslie Mackay (1844-1901) and Mrs Chhang-Mia Tiu Mackay (  -1925), and why.

Isabel Minnie Mackay (1917-2012), born and raised in Tamsui, educated in Japan and Canada, was the 4th of the 5 children of George William Mackay and Jean Ross Mackay (1887-1969). She, known affectionately to her students as "馬偕小姐Miss Mackay", was then a Consultant to NTU Hospital Nursing School in Taipei and who was spending a rare day off with her parents in Tamsui. They had chit-chatted happily late into the evening before getting ready for bed. Not long after Miss Mackay returned to her bedroom, however, she heard her mother screaming in alarm, then the sound of gun fire, followed by her father's yelling, "I am hit!" Instinctively, Miss Mackay rushed to her parents' aid, only to encounter a soldier standing in the hallway leading to her parents' bedroom. This man fired a shot that had penetrated Miss Mackay's right leg. She hastily retreated to the bedroom, escaped through a window, and called out in Taiwanese, "救人Help! 救人Help!" The neighbors and the policemen quickly gathered and scared off the two gunmen. Ignoring her own injuries, Miss Mackay administered first aid to her father, stopped bleeding from a gaping gunshot wound in the abdomen. Her mother was also shot in the side of the abdomen; luckily, the bullet did not strike any vital organs. Together, they were rushed to the ER of NTU Hospital where Dr 高天成, the Head of the Hospital, personally operated on Dr Mackay. Because the bullet was lodged too close to the spine, it was decided not to risk paralysis and to leave the bullet alone. The damages were repaired quickly.

Such a fateful day - Miss Mackay's visit to her hometown Tamsui actually had saved her parents' lives.

No one knew why the Mackays were targeted. The official version alleged that it was an armed robbery committed by two soldiers. To the Mackays, this made no sense, since no one in the family had resisted. The actual use of deadly force would appear unusual if a simple robbery as well, when in fact nothing was taken from the house at all.

The understanding of Tamsui-lang was that the weapons and bullets used in the home invasion were issued only to military officers, not to common foot soldiers. Because the incident had occurred one day after the UK recognized, diplomatically, Communist China (Jan 6, 1950), the theory was that the Mackays were mistaken as being British and two KMT army officers had come to exact "revenge".

The truth? To this day, no one really knows.

14 則留言:

  1. Great stuff, EyeDoc. Didn't even know about this. Thanks so much for the beers behind the bar at Patrick's place. Was a welcome surprise and very thoughtful of you.

    I was actually there the following evening to avail myself of your generosity with a Taiwanese woman who has family from your neck of the woods. I'm certain you'd know them. I've forgotten the surname of the (paternal) side of the family that was from Tamsui but the maternal grandfather was 朱昭陽. I think they were from Banciao.

    Anyway, I had meant to mention this to you in case you were in town but I forgot and then, to my dismay, found out you were flying out the next day! Another time, perhaps.

    Hope you're well. Keep up the good work.

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  2. Hi James, glad you had enjoyed the beer. I ran out of time last time having to spend a few days in both Kaohsiung and Tainan. I'll be there again in mid-Oct. Will try to make time to get together this time.

    朱昭陽? Yeah, another distinguished gentleman of the same generation as Christopher Young's granddad and my father. Certainly would like to talk with his granddaughter.

    See you all soon.

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  3. Hi, I am Katy Biggs (番名), aka 洪惠文。And is the Taiwanese woman James was with at Patrick's place. Yes he did drink the beer you owed him. I am very surprised and delighted to know that you not only know my paternal great grandfather 洪以南 (the owner of the Tamsui Hong Lou 红楼. At which my father was born in a room on the second floor and lived there until he was about 3 years old when the family relocated to Ning Xia Road) but also my maternal grandfather 朱昭陽. My mother told me he didn't know Yang san-lang very well, but he knew Lee Shih-chiao better. And he was invited to Lee's exhibition (maybe first one in Taiwan after the war) with the then vice president Hsieh Tung-min. There is a picture of this in a book about him.

    My cousin Ken Hong did an album of the Hong Family, should you be interested. Feel free to post comments, he is normally quite good at responding.

    Nice to meet you here! You are a rarity of this generation to have knowledge of both sides of my family.

    Katy

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    1. Hi Katy, what a surprise to know another Tamsui 洪. My old house was a stone's throw from 紅樓. I also vaguely remember that 洪以南 might be a distant relative through 忠寮李家? 朱昭陽 was of course in the same league of geniuses but not as lucky as 杜聰明 especially after 1947. It is pretty well-known that 李石樵 and 楊三郎 were friendly competitors...

      Let's meet up in Oct. I have a running tab of Tiger beer at The Hammer.

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    2. I don't live in Taipei! I live in Reading, England! what's your email address (not for consultation as you advertised)?

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    3. 'Distant relatives' is too vague. I am a distant relative of many people in Taiwan. :-)

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    4. And I live in Boston, Massachusetts. I can be reached at hmcheng542@msn.com

      Ah, but Tamsui is such a small town, literally everybody knows everybody else. I'll need to check with my oldest cousin, she knows these family ties quite well.

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  4. https://www.flickr.com/photos/sunangen/sets/72157594252244290/

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    1. Amazing collection of photos! On the 2nd page, I see a Schiotz tonometer with an authenticity certificate. Below it, a lensometer, And next to the lensometer, apparently an indirect ophthalmoscope. An eye clinic in the Japanese-German tradition that seemed to also specialize in glaucoma and retinal diseases.

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    2. Ah! You call yourself EyeDoc, is it anything to do with your interest in eye clinic? My grandfather was the first Ophthalmologist in Taiwan. I have seen those at (now) my cousin's house.
      Him: http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B4%AA%E9%95%B7%E5%BA%9A

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    3. His first eye clinic was in Dadaocheng.

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    4. No wonder. Your grandfather's MD thesis was "日本人脈絡膜及網膜色素胎生組織學" - this explains the ophthalmoscope (to see the choroid and the retina).

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  5. 親愛的 Cameron 博士,



    僅管你可能早已聽到了許多消息,我想你仍會對所附的記載感興趣,尤其是該

    文是一位大陸人所寫(譯按:此指美洲大陸,加拿大)。記載人曾經在許多中國許

    多重要港口擔任海事顧問。



    祝安好,瑪格麗特‧馬偕(譯按:馬偕的孫女)

    於北太平洋 1947年4月14日



    (本信來自一位熟知中國的英國水手(1),事件發生時人在當地,並剛從福爾摩沙回

    來) 幾個禮拜前我在台北,並遇見了你們(2)。我在台北時,發生了一個理應發生,

    福爾摩沙人對抗中國人壓迫的反抗事件。當時對島外的信件或通訊都有可能被審查

    過濾,中國人只想讓報紙刊出他們的事件版本。你們想必也是因此詢問後能否寫信

    讓你們知道發生了什麼事。我會盡力。我只能靠記憶撰寫(因為當時害怕被搜查,

    因而不敢寫筆記),所以如果我寫得很亂,請見諒。



    日本鬼子(譯按:原文為 Jap)投降後,福爾摩沙人原本誠心的歡迎中國的接

    管人員,並且努力試著在讓中國政府的管理一切順利。不過因為嚴重的腐敗和其它

    等等原因,福爾摩沙人的期待很快就幻滅了,而對中國統治者的反感也取代了原先

    的熱情。中國完全不去發展台灣島的商業、出口、或是工業,基本上什麼事都不做。

    他們唯一的目的似乎就是搜括掠奪。他們僅是接管了日本人離去後空下來的單位和

    公司,並且繼續執行日本人的統治系統,唯一的差別是日本人的管理方法有條理,

    而中國人沒有。從大陸來的中國人湧入島上,佔去了所有肥缺,並且享有優先特權,

    反觀本地的民營事業受到排擠,還被要求滾一邊去。時間久了壓抑的情緒僅需要一

    個小時件當起火點,悶燒的怒火就會演變為熊熊烈火。怒火最後在 2 月 28 日爆發

    了。



    一名菸酒專賣局的警察用鈍器打死了一位在台北火車站附近小攤位賣香菸的老

    寡婦(譯按:林江邁,僅被打傷後腦)。不滿的群眾開始向該警察抗議,其中一人

    遭到槍擊(譯按:陳文溪,隔日不治)。於是群眾向菸酒專賣局移動(憤怒但有秩

    序),繼續抗議,結果更多名群眾被射死。這時群眾的情緒爆發了(沒人可以怪他

    們),他們從菸酒專賣局中抓出了一些中國官員痛打,有些官員被打死。從菸酒專

    賣局中搜出的錢與香菸被群眾拿到街上,當街燒毀。(這是他們展現並非為了搶錢、

    或是從中牟利而抗議的方法)。之後群眾的情緒平緩了許多,而事情很有可能就此

    平靜下來。但是隔天中國人又玩起槍來。兩名放假準備回家的學生在火車站遭到盤

    問,最後被射殺。另一波的抗議活動(有秩序的)向台灣省行政長官公署集合,以

    表達他們對這些事件的不滿,結果群眾遭到機關槍掃射。這是引發全面反抗最後一

    根稻草,而台北街頭短時間由福爾摩沙人控制。



    機關槍掃射事件隔天,一位群眾代表向台灣行政長官提出一份訴求書:-熱愛扣

    板機的警察應該解職。軍隊應暫時限制留在營區內。未來應該透過人民選舉選出市

    長或是其它高層公職,不再隨意派任等等。所有的訴求都是合理,並且有益全島的

    遠見。行政長官聆聽了訴求後,要求給予十天的時間來研究這些訴求,然後再安排

    會議讓兩邊一同商討細節。另外雙方安排讓學生在這十天內維持秩序,並且配予槍

    枝,以防有不肖份子趁機作惡。福爾摩沙人所不知的是,行政長官早已,或是馬上

    就要向大陸調來更多軍隊。上述的安排收到效果,台北也回復正常。



    到了 3 月 8 日的晚上十點(協議十天和平的第八天)步槍和機關槍同時在台

    北不同地區開火。調來的軍隊已經扺達,開始向任何東西與任何人射擊,任意且毫

    無警告的開槍。一開始火力強大,隨著軍隊四處找人當槍靶,漸漸變成一段時間後

    才有一陣槍聲。這樣的情況持續了幾天,也不曉得有多少人喪生。我覺得死亡者有

    上千人。除了遭到射殺外,很多市民因為毫不可靠的理由遭到逮捕,我怕被抓去的

    沒有幾個能活下來。



    被逮捕的人中包括了一些你們認識的人,比如能通(3)。我常聽到你的父母談起

    他。士兵以一些捏造的配合作亂理由要將他帶走。因為他完全聽不懂士兵們所用的

    語言。學校的另一位老師(據我所知能通是校長)出來想替能通翻譯,當場被士兵

    射殺(4)。當我離開台北時,我仍不知道能通是否還活著。當我詢問時,回覆說他被

    帶去基隆受審,加上聽說另一位校長也遭逮捕,情況看來很糟。



    那些維持秩序的學生被要求歸還借給他們的武器,因為已經秩序已經不復存在

    了。有 20 名學生在淡水路邊,神學院的西側(譯按:今真理大學),遭近距離射

    殺。



    在基隆的一次屠殺之後,屍體被拋入海裡。結果被浪帶回了港口。中國政府的

    版本,也是島外得到的版本是: - 共產黨份子被清除了。



    如今表面上福爾摩沙人很順從,但是內心中卻燃燒著遲早會再爆發的怒火。他

    們不會逆來順受。他們的絕望讓人同情,而他們只能指望聯合國大會能將他們救出

    目前的處境。他們無法表達出他們的感受,不然就會被逮捕搓掉;因為他們只能完

    全仰賴島外的幫助和努力,而只能靠福爾摩沙人發出怒吼,並且持續到聯合國大會

    注意到他們的處境。不然福爾摩沙人將注定受高壓統治與被人支配。





    A. 福爾摩沙人誠心的期待台灣島納入聯合國法令託管。

    B. 混亂、腐敗、缺法治理導致的動亂需要聯合國調查。

    C. 若有調查就會發現中國管理下所造成惡劣情況,他們(聯合國大會)有監督改善

    的義務。

    D. 改善的方法很簡單,賦予福爾摩沙人投票決定他們想要何種政府的權力。 98%

    的人會投給聯合國法令託管,而聯合國大會將會得到六百萬人民永恆感激。

    E. 任何花費都將會得到償還。在合法政府領導下,台灣島豐富的煤、金、糖、米產

    量會讓其經濟在短時間內擁有償還能力。



    現在我建議你在讀完此信之後,到城裡讓所有你認識的人知道福爾摩沙的處境,

    並組成一個委員會或是一個黨來宣導幫助福爾摩沙的目標。你應該認得許多關注福

    爾摩沙與福爾摩沙居民的人,他們會熱烈加入這個運動來幫助快樂又勤奮的福爾摩

    沙人脫離他們煉獄般的處境。我們將需要透過所有任何管道,一直不停的要求聯合

    國才能達成這個目標。





    (譯按:底下為原註)

    1- 附信其實是 1913-1924 年在台灣的宣教士 Kenneth W. Dowie 所寄,他是淡江

    中學的建築師。Dowie 後來加入了美國海軍,並且在事件間到台灣停留。



    2 - 附信的收件者是偕叡廉伉儷(馬偕醫生的兒子),他們在 228 事件展開時到達

    台灣。偕叡廉為了試著解救陳能通,勇敢的前往和軍隊士官長葛元芬(音譯)會面。



    3 - 陳能通是淡江中學的校長。他的父親陳王(音譯)牧師是馬偕醫生的學生。 二

    二八時也遭逮捕,當被釋放了。



    4 - 盧圍是淡中的科學老師。死於 3 月 18 日。體育老師黃阿統與陳能通一齊遭到

    逮捕,與陳能通和數千人一同人間蒸發了。據信應該是被拋入基隆海中。




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    1. The original letter was posted by Michael Turton here:
      http://michaelturton.blogspot.com/2009/07/previously-unrevealed-2-28-account.html

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