James Mellon Menzies (明義士) (23 February 1885 – 16 March 1957) was a Canadian Presbyterian missionary, archaeologist, professor, and author.
He was the first Western scholar to study Shang dynasty Oracle bone script, the earliest form of Chinese writing.
His grandparents, Robert Menzies and Catherine Redpath, emigrated from Chapel Hill, Logie Almond, Perthshire, Scotland in 1832.
He was ordained by the Presbyterian Church of Canada in 1910, and then commissioned to serve in northern Henan Province at the cities of Wu'an and Changde.
[2] As part of the Chinese Labour Corps, Menzies served as Staff Captain of the British Army in France from the years 1917–1920.
[2] In 1927 through 1929, Menzies was unable to resume missionary work in Henan province, and instead taught at the College of Chinese Studies in Beijing.
[2] Menzies returned to Changde in 1930 and stayed there until 1932, when he was given a job as professor of archaeology and Sinological research at Cheeloo University in Shandong.
His PhD, obtained in 1942, included a thesis entitled "Shang Ko: a Study of the Characteristic Weapon of the Bronze Age in China in the Period 1311–1039 B.C.
[11] An extinct species of water buffalo whose antlers were used in oracle bones was excavated in Anyang and given the scientific name Elaphurus menziesanus in his honour.