图为龙华革命烈士就义地出土的群镣（总长306cm）

这是一副曾经在国民党淞沪警备司令部军法处监狱中使用的镣铐，铁质，其间横挂数根不规则短链，部分有断裂。1981年春，中国人民解放军7315工厂在厂区（原龙华国民党淞沪警备司令部旧址和“龙华二十四烈士”就义地）附近挖土方时，发现了这副群镣。出土时，它已锈迹斑斑，却明白地向人们讲述着中国共产党史上一段悲壮的往事。

Once used in the prison of the Judge Advocate Department of the KMT’s Shanghai Police Headquarter in Songhu, this pair of iron shackles has several short irregular chains hanging across them, partly broken. In the spring of 1981, when the 7315 factory workers of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army were doing earthwork excavation near the factory (the former site of the Nationalist Party’s garrison headquarters in Songhu, and the place where the “24 Longhua Martyrs” were executed), they discovered this pair of rusty shackles, which reminded us of a solemn and stirring episode in the history of the Chinese Communist Party.

据一些老同志回忆，在被关押进龙华监狱时，首先会在监狱入口的大青石处钉上脚镣。最重的脚镣有18斤，钉上之后行动困难，只能半步半步地挪动，因此被称为“半步镣”。据不完全统计，在1927年到1937年之间，曾有数以万计的革命者被关押在龙华监狱，其中有一些中国共产党的重要干部就在监狱后的刑场就义，最为残酷的当属一次集体屠杀——1931年2月7日深夜，20多名中国共产党党员被集体枪杀，他们就是“龙华二十四烈士”。

Some comrades recalled the scenes of being escorted to Longhua prison. Before entering the prison, they were shackled with chains near the big blue stone. The weight of the heaviest chains amounted to 9kg, so heavy that the comrades could only stumble around step by step. Therefore, it was called the “half-step shackles”. According to incomplete statistics, tens of thousands of revolutionaries were held in Longhua prison between 1927 and 1937, and some of the leading cadres sacrificed on the execution ground right behind the jail. The cruelest massacre took place late in the night of February 7, 1931, in which more than 20 CPC members were executed. Collectively, they were known as the “24 Longhua Martyrs”.

图为龙华二十四烈士多媒体雕塑剧场

1931年1月，由于叛徒的告密，党的10多个秘密联络点被上海租界巡捕房破坏，党的干部、“左联”作家、革命群众计有30多人被捕。作为“重犯”被移解龙华看守所，其中有24位同志最终遭到枪杀，他们是：中华苏维埃第一次全国代表大会准备会秘书长林育南，中共江苏省委候补委员、原中共沪中区委书记何孟雄，中国左翼作家联盟作家李求实、柔石、胡也频、殷夫、冯铿，共青团江苏省委委员欧阳立安，上海市工会联合会秘书长龙大道，中华苏维埃第一次全国代表大会准备会秘书彭砚耕，中共山东省委组织部长王青士，中共南京市委书记恽雨棠，党的机要工作人员李文，中共上海沪中区委书记蔡博真，共青团闸北区委书记伍仲文，中共青岛市委负责人罗石冰，上海市工会联合会秘书段楠，上海市工会联合会沪东办事处主任费达夫，红军第十四军干部汤仕佺、汤士伦，华德小学教师刘争、贺治平，以及李云卿和一位无法查清姓名的烈士。

In January 1931, the betrayal of some informers led to the fallen of more than 10 secret liaison spots of the party. More than 30 people, ranging from CPC cadres to some members of League of Left-Wing Writers and revolutionaries, were arrested as "felons" by the police of Shanghai concession and transferred to Longhua detention center. Among them, 24 people were executed in the end. They were: Lin Yunan – Secretary General of the First All-China Soviet Congress preparation meeting, He Mengxiong – alternate member of the CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee and former secretary of the CPC Huzhong District Committee, members of League of Left-Wing Writers including Li Qiushi, Rou Shi, Hu Yepin, Yin Fu and Feng Keng, Ouyang Li’an – member of the CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Communist Youth League, Long Dadao – Secretary General of the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions, Peng Yangeng – Secretary of the First All-China Soviet Congress preparation meeting, Wang Qingshi – Minister of the Organization Department of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee, Yun Yutang – Secretary of the CPC Nanjing Municipal Committee, Li Wen who was responsible for confidential works, Cai Bozhen – Secretary of Shanghai Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Wu Zhongwen – Secretary of the Zhabei District Committee of the Communist Youth League, Luo Shibing – Head of the CPC Qingdao Municipal Committee, Duan Nan – Secretary of the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions, Fei Dafu – Director of the eastern office of the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions, cadres of the 14th Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army including Tang Shiquan and Tang Shilun, teachers of Huade Primary School including Liu Zheng and He Zhiping, Li Yunqing and an unknown martyr.

面对死亡，面对诋毁，他们坚守信念，表现出惊人的毅力。李求实拖着沉重的脚镣，为狱中难友开办识字班，宣传革命真理。胡也频知道自己无免于死，就向难友们建议，把口袋里的钱集中一下，找个理发匠来理一理发，“就义后，给反动派拍起照来也显得威武一点”。他和柔石怀着强烈的文学创作欲望，在牢内悄悄收集烈士和难友的斗争事迹，在昏暗的光线下，用铅笔头、碎纸片，仔细记录整理。柔石还向殷夫学习德文，向李求实学习俄文。他们的身体虽然遭到黑暗牢笼的囚禁，他们的精神却始终翱翔在自由的光明之地。

Fearless of death and slander, these revolutionaries stood firm with their convictions and showed an incredible willpower. With heavy shackles on his feet, Li Qiushi still offered literacy tutoring for his fellow inmates to disseminate the knowledge of revolution. Knowing that he could not escape the fate of execution, Hu Yepin suggested that all the inmates contribute the money left in their pockets, sending for a barber to let everyone have a decent haircut. He said, “Even if reactionaries kill us, we should look mighty in posthumous photos.” With a strong motivation to write, he and Rou Shi secretly collected the stories of the martyrs’ and inmates’ struggling deeds in prison, carefully recording and collating them with pencil tips and scraps of paper in the dim light. Rou Shi also learned German from Yin Fu and Russian from Li Qiushi. Despite that they were locked up in a dark prison, their spirits were always soaring freely in the light.

图为龙华革命烈士绘图

1931年2月7日，再过10天就是中国农历新年——大年初一了。这天深夜，敌人从牢房中分两批把24人提出。他们脚下拖着沉重的镣铐，群镣碰撞的哀鸣，响彻寂静的寒夜。随着一阵疯狂的扫射，漆黑的刑场遍染理想与信念的殷红鲜血……

On the night of February 7, 1931, 10 days before the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, the enemy took these 24 people out of the cells in two batches. Heavy shackles clanked between their ankles as they moved, ringing through the silent cold night. After a burst of shootings, the blood of people with ideals and faith flooded the dark execution ground.

1950年4月，上海市政府经过调查，最终确定了烈士就义地。昔日刑场附近出土的群镣，已爬满斑驳的锈迹，一如那段黑暗残破的历史，与之形成鲜明对比的，是革命者百折不回的英雄精神，在今天熠熠生辉！

In April 1950, the Shanghai municipal government, after investigation, finally determined the locality where those martyrs lost their lives. Already covered with mottled rust, the shackles unearthed near the execution ground were a reminder of those dark old days. As a sharp contrast, these revolutionaries’ heroic spirits still shine today!