{"id":47153,"date":"2026-08-03T17:35:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T09:35:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/3doorhotel.com.tw\/?p=47153"},"modified":"2026-09-21T15:24:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T07:24:31","slug":"tainan-fathers-day-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/3doorhotel.com.tw\/en\/tainan-fathers-day-trip\/","title":{"rendered":"[Dad, This Time Let Me Take Your Hand] The Gentle Origins of Taiwan’s Father’s Day, and a Slow Trip Through Old Tainan"},"content":{"rendered":"
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[Dad, this time let me take your hand]<\/h1>\n

The secret of the Father’s Day moustache, and a gentle Tainan trip through nostalgic food, nature and monuments<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Every family has a mountain standing quietly in it. He rarely says anything sweet; lean on him and all you get is “are you hungry? let’s go eat.” He falls asleep within seconds in front of the television, yet turns into an all-capable superhero the moment you run into trouble.<\/p>\n

That’s Dad. We mark Father’s Day here every year on 8 August, but do you know where the day came from? The story behind it has plenty to move you, and a few details that will make you smile.<\/p>\n

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\ud83d\udca1 Where did Father’s Day come from? Warm secrets hidden in history<\/h2>\n

1. The American story: a hardened soldier takes on a parenting marathon, six children deep<\/h3>\n

\"\u7236\u89aa\u7bc0<\/p>\n

Back to 1909, in the United States. A woman named Sonora Smart Dodd came out of a Mother’s Day service and thought, with a pang: what about fathers?<\/p>\n

Her father, William Jackson Smart, was no ordinary man – a hardened Civil War veteran. After her mother died in childbirth, this iron-willed soldier did not walk away. Alone on a bleak farm, with rough hands, he taught himself to sew, to cook, to pat a child to sleep, working the land while raising six children.<\/p>\n

Picture it: a man used to the smoke of the battlefield, clumsily changing a baby’s nappy and braiding hair. Isn’t that both endearing and quietly heartbreaking? To Dodd, her father’s love was as solid as a shield. She campaigned tirelessly, and in 1910 the world’s first Father’s Day was held. It was more than a date on a calendar; it was a daughter’s deepest tribute to a father who had been both parents at once.<\/p>\n

2. Taiwan’s “88 Festival”: not just wordplay – there’s a moustache hidden in it too<\/h3>\n

So why does Taiwan mark Father’s Day on 8 August? For that we go to Shanghai in 1945. The war against Japan was drawing to a close, and many fathers had gone to defend their homes, some never to return. To honour their selflessness, local writers and patriots gathered signatures proposing a Father’s Day.<\/p>\n

Putting their heads together, they realised the eighth day of the eighth month was a gift from heaven:<\/p>\n