This thesis applies the method of twofold evidence, as well as a multidisciplinary approach of philology, archaeology, religious studies, literary studies, art history, iconology, and ancient astronomy, to search through all relevantly transmitted and unearthed materials and research on the sacred trees of the Shang-Zhou period. Through an examination of the various images of the sacred trees, the thesis first makes a new definition of the sacred tree from both a narrow sense of shamanism-religion and a broad sense of ideology-culture. The thesis then focuses on the four sacred trees of the silk manuscripts of the Chu and studies relevant iconographical groups of pre-Qin period to draw some new conclusions. The so-called TLV (Ya 亞) iconographical groups imply the concept of round heaven and square earth, the view of universe movement, and the TLV arrangement of three dimensions. All these gradually developed into an all-bracing cosmological system.

本文採用二重證據法的考據方法，綜合文獻學、考古學、宗教學、文學研究、 藝術史研究、文物學、圖像學、古代天文學等學科領域，全面搜集運用文獻材料 和文物材料，對商周時期的神樹形象展開研究。本文首先整合神樹形象，從狹義 的宗教巫術角度和廣義的思想文化角度為神樹提出合理的新定義。文中進一步從 楚帛書四神樹入手，從思想史的角度研究相關的先秦圖像系統，得出以下結論： 先秦的“亞”形圖像系統蘊含天圓地方的天地觀念、斗轉星移的宇宙觀念和“亞” 形平面之間的立體嵌套關係，並逐漸發展成為一個無所不包的天地模式和宇宙系 統。