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Just wondering how the year 4709 is deduced…
According to an entry in Wikipedia,
“…There is no universally agreed upon “epoch” or starting point for the Chinese calendar. Tradition holds that the calendar was invented by Emperor Huang-di (黄帝) in the 61st year of his reign in what is now known under the proleptic Gregorian calendar as 2637 BCE. Many have used this date as the epoch, i.e. the first year of the first sixty-year (sexagesimal) cycle, of the Chinese calendar, but others have used the date of the beginning of his reign in 2697 BCE as the epoch. Since these dates are exactly sixty years apart, it does not matter which is used to determine the stem/branch sequence or the astrological sign for any succeeding year. That is, 2006 is a bingxu year and the Year of the Dog regardless of whether years are counted from 2637 BCE or 2697 BCE.”
So, it’s at best a “gu-estimate’, to be noted with a grain of salt or uncertainty. ‘Wiki’ also cites Dr. Sun for another arbitrary start of the Chinese calendar as a political move.
Huangdi was a legendary king. Most likely, he was some tribal head. Documented Chinese history is generally accepted to start in the 21st BCE extended to the Xia Dynasty, according to records from the oracle bones. Hence, a history of 5K years is simply a ballpark figure.