James Mellon Menzies

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James Mellon Menzies

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        Dates of existence

        1885-1957

        History

        James Mellon Menzies (1885-1957) was a Presbyterian and United Church missionary in North Honan, and an archaeology and ancient history scholar. He was born February 23, 1885 in Clinton Ontario. He was educated at the Clinton, Goderich, Staples public schools, Leamington high school and later graduated with honours from School of Practical Science at the University of Toronto in 1907. There he studied civil engineering and land surveying which led to his work as a Dominion Land Surveyor in the prairies for several months. He decided to become a minister and enrolled at Knox College. He was ordained in 1910 and shortly after joined the Honan Mission. In 1911 he married Annie Belle Sedgwick, an Anglican Missionary he met in China. From 1910-1914 he served in Wuan and then Changte from 1914-1915. In 1914 he became interested in Chinese archaeology when he discovered the Waste of Yin, the site of the one of the Shang Dynasty capitals. He published his first work on the subject in 1917. In 1916 served as YMCA Secretary in Kaifang. During WWI he served in France with the British Army as Captain of the Chinese Labor Corps, Technical Officer at he Headquarters and Staff Captain of D.A.P.M. First Army Area. After the war, he returned to China and served in Changte until 1927 when foreign missionaries evacuated due to civil war. For a year he taught at the College of Chinese Studies in Peking then took a furlough. After his furlough he was able to return to Changte and stayed until 1932 when he was asked to work as professor at Cheeloo University in Tsinan teaching Chinese Epigraphy and Archaeology. He continued his archaeological research at the University and established an Archaeological Museum. In 1937 he went back to Canada on furlough but was subsequently unable to return to China because of the Japanese Occupation. While in Canada he the worked as a research assistant on Chinese Archaeology at the University of Toronto until 1941 and was awarded a PhD the following year. During 1942-1946 he served as a consultant with the U.S. Office of War Information in San Francisco. He helped to maintain contact with Chinese scholars in occupied China. In 1946 his had a heart attack and returned to Toronto where he continued his archaeological research until his passing in 1957. He and Annie Menzies had three children.

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        ON00340

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