In the east of Zhaishan Village, Cuijiawan Town, east of Suide, there are two large mountains named Qinglong and Gaomao were separated. The unique sheep rock array is between the two mountains,and it is like pieces of stretched white clouds, sticking to the Zhaishan Village.Every time around the 15th of July of the lunar calendar, many people will come to sacrifice the stone sheep.

沿着陡峭的小路，爬上数丈高的土崖，平缓的黄土湾里，依坡排列着数行百余个大小不等的石绵羊。羊群的第四排中，有一个不大的神龛，由于年代的久远，里面的文字已无法看清。

Along the steep path, climb several feet high earth cliffs, and in the gentle loess bay, there are hundreds of rows of stone sheep of different sizes lined up along the slope. In the fourth row of the flock, there is a small shrine.And due to its age,the words inside are no longer visible.

黄土湾上方的土崖畔上，有一尊真羊大小的石绵羊，正昂首挺胸，居高临下地目视前方；而羊群的最下方，站立着一位身材魁梧的石人，犹如一放牧的羊倌，正领着一群大羊小羊，晚归而来；又如一操练的指挥官，正教导一群羊士兵，在那儿布兵列阵。

On the edge of the earth cliff above loess bay,there is a stone sheep as big as a real sheep, holding its head high, looking ahead condescendingly.At the bottom of the flock, there stands a burly stone man like a shepherd, leading a group of large sheep and lambs and returning late,and it also like a practicing commander who is teaching a flock of sheep soldiers to lay out their troops there.

一只只石绵羊造型简朴、线条粗犷。仔细观察，没有一只相同。这只，能清晰辨出头顶短小的犄角、突出的眉骨；那只，可会意到挺立的鼻梁、丰润的面颊。一条狭小的缝隙是羊的眼睛，一根粗犷的线条像羊的嘴巴。瓦蓝的晴空下，各种轮廓显得格外分明，它们的嘴、眼、鼻、耳惟妙惟肖，给这村庄不远的荒山秃岭增添了神秘的色彩。

The stone sheep are simple in shape and rugged in line. On closer inspection, none of them are the same. One can clearly identify the short horns on the top of the head and the protruding brow bone; Another one, you can feel the upright bridge of the nose and the plump cheeks. A narrow slit is the eyes of a sheep and a rough line is the mouth of a sheep.The various silhouettes are particularly distinct under the blue sky.Their mouths, eyes, noses and ears are exquisite, adding a mysterious color to the barren mountains not far from this village.

传说，很早很早以前，这里两边的山体经常坍塌，堵塞河道，村民想尽办法，可还是无能为力。这一年，南蛮人路经这里，看了地形与风水后，就说只要在中间的山坡安两只石绵羊面对两山，就可以顶住两边的山体不再坍塌。

It is said that long long ago, the mountains on both sides of the place often collapsed and blocked the river. The villagers tried their best to solve it, but they were still powerless. One year, Nanban people passed by here.After looking at the topography and geomantic omen, they said that as long as two stone sheep were placed on the hillside in the middle facing the two mountains, it would be able to withstand the mountains on both sides and stop them from collapsing.

于是，村民照他们说的样办理，两山果然再不塌陷。随着时间的推移，当地人就把这两只石羊当作神羊来对待，祈福免灾，焚香许愿。每有村民如愿以偿后，就打一只小石绵羊，放在大石绵羊的脚下。久而久之，石绵羊越来越多，村民们还将每年的农历七月十五定为石绵羊会来祭祀，以此来期盼石绵羊为百姓除灾降福。

Therefore, the villagers did as they were told, and the two mountains did not collapse again. As time went on, the local people treated the two stone sheep as god sheep, prayed for blessings and avoiding disasters, burned incense and made a wish. After each villager' wish came true, they would make a small stone sheep and put it at the feet of the big stone sheep. So there are more and more stone sheep , and the villagers also set the 15th day of the seventh lunar month as the annual stone sheep festival to sacrifice in order to hope that the stone sheep will eliminate disasters and bring blessings to the people.

黄河中游是中华文明的发祥地之一，几千年来，陕北人崇尚神灵，又多食羊肉，还一直强调“羊”字的吉祥和幸福含义。经过时间的演变，人们不仅用羊来祭祀神灵，反过来还把羊作为神灵来崇拜。石绵羊会是人们敬畏自然、尊重自然、追求朴素的天人合一理念的一种表现，是民众自发对具有超自然力精神体的信奉与尊重，也是陕北独有的文化现象和中华民族对羊崇拜的一个组成部分。