Tamsui Oxford College
In 1872 (the 11th year of Qing Tongzhi), the Canadian missionary Mackay came to Tamsui to preach, because he was proficient in medicine, he often used the convenience of a missionary to provide free medical treatment for patients, which was respected by Taiwanese everywhere; Mackay was important in the process of cultivating local people to become missionary talents, and the missionary process was also to educate students. Mackay made many contributions to Taiwan's religion, medicine, and education throughout his life.
In 1880 (the 6th year of Qing Guangxu), Dr. Mackay returned to Canada for the first time to report on his work and the achievements of his eight years of missionary work in Taiwan in his hometown, which was greatly affirmed by the villagers, but he could not bear the poor environment when training his students under the "take the sky as the top under the big banyan tree and the grass as the mat" condition. At the urging of the local newspaper, the villagers of Oxford County donated a total of 6215 Canadian dollars (equivalent to about 140 thousand Taiwanese dollars today) for Mackay to build a modern school in Taiwan.
At the end of 1881 (the 7th year of Qing Guangxu), Mackay returned to Taiwan and used this donation to buy new lands, and personally designed and supervised, this first new school in Taiwan was finally completed and opened in July 1882 (the 8th year of Qing Guangxu) and was named the "Oxford College", which was to commemorate the donation of the people of his hometown Oxford County. The inauguration ceremony and opening ceremony was on September 14, in addition to teachers and students, it also included believers from churches, British consuls, foreign merchants, customs guests, Qing dynasty officials, and the magistrate of Taipei district. On behalf of the official, Admiral Sun Kai Hua delivered a speech saying, "Such a small island in Taiwan, and having this school is the best thing to this country."Besides, there were also Chinese and foreign people donating funds and equipment to participate in the grand event, which can be described as an unprecedented event.
Among the many buildings built by Mackay in Taiwan, the Oxford College is one with a strong sense of Chinese and Western integration, which was said to have been built by Hong Zai Quan, a well-known clay smith in Tamsui at that time. Dr. Mackay personally selected, designed, and supervised the work. Because the architect was a Taiwanese craftsman who was difficult to communicate with, the craftsman demonstrated with the cutting of potatoes. The building was located in the north and facing the south, the outside layer of the college is 76 feet from east to west and 116 feet from north to south, and all the bricks and tiles were transported from Xiamen, and the material was mixed with glutinous rice and black sugar, lime, and sand replacing cement. The exterior is crowned with the tip of a small hat of a Western-style church but resembles the shape of a Chinese minaret, and the lintel is a Guanyin Mountain stone, with the inscription "Oxford College Science 1882".
The layout was configured on the main house of the quadrangle, with three main bedrooms, two entrances, and two dragon guards. The doors, windows, and shutters of the western-style round arch are "rain poncho". In front of the main entrance, there is the front porch of the traditional house "Concave Shou"; while the front eaves have a western-style "daughter wall". The round-arched windows on the gables are made of red brick, covered with rain seek on tops, and inlaid with stained glass. The roof is a traditional hard mountain tile roof with small spires on the roof.
After the death of Dr. Mackay, the principal of Oxford College was succeeded by Pastor William Wu and changed to a seminary school. At that time, the Japanese had already made achievements in Taiwan, established schools, conducted the six-year national education, teacher training schools, and general establishment in various places had been completed, so the level of theological school (Oxford College) must also be improved.
On April 4, 1914, Tamsui Middle School held an opening ceremony at the original site of Oxford College in Tamsui, and the first principal was Mr. Mackay's only son, Mr. George William Mackay.
In 1940, Oxford College and the former missionary dormitory were appointed as the " Taipei Theological Seminary of Women's high Division ", with DA, CHUAN-ZHENG as the principal, and moved to the missionary teachers' dormitory in Taipei in May of the following year, while the four missionary dormitories and Oxford College in Tamsui were leased to Tamsui Junior High School and Tamsui Senior Girls.
In 1985, Oxford College was designated a Grade II Monument by the Ministry of the Interior.
In 1994, Tamsui Business Administration College was reorganized into Tamsui School of Business Administration.
In 1999, Tamsui School of Business Administration was renamed Aletheia University.
