Analysis of the Types of Tree Worship Based on Synchronic Study

Based on the synchronic studies, this paper divided the worship of trees into three types from the point of view of worship objects, namely the worship of tree-spirits, the worship of forest god and the worship of holy-trees. In the worship of tree-spirits, the tree as the object of worship was personified, and tree-spirit was the tree with soul. According to the worship of forest god, every tree in the forest was the place for the forest god to live, and the forest god was the result of the further abstraction of the tree-spirit. In the worship of holy-trees, trees were magical or holy tools. Nowadays, when all the human beings advocate the ecological civilization, trees and forests should not be worshipped as personalized gods, nor be abused as instrumental objects, but should be respected as the existence of life in the ecological community.