Note 364 — Chapter XV · TAOISM, LOCAL DEITIES, TREE-WORSHIP

See the Rev. A. W. Oxford's "Ancient Judaism" in Religious Systems of the World (8th ed.), p. 55. He remarks that the sacred trees at these places "were always evergreen trees as being the best symbols of life; 'green' is the constant adjective applied to them by the prophets. The name used for them—ela or elon—shows that they were considered to be divine beings." As regards the choice of evergreen trees, see above, pp. 262-4.