馬超背父棄親之舉飽受時人詬病。解析馬超棄質事件,可對崇尚孝悌節義的東漢社會與涼州地區匈奴羌胡習俗作多維度的審視。質任制與吳魏的外交斗爭密切相關。孫權在夷陵之戰中的外交策略,特別是在質子之爭中取得的勝利,不僅為孫吳贏得了生存和發展的空間,也在一定程度上延緩了三國統一的時間。曹魏滅蜀是三國統一戰爭中的關鍵之戰,質任制與士亡法在當時發揮了制約鐘會叛亂的特殊作用。將質任現象置于漢晉之際從天下分裂到統一戰爭的視野下考察,并延伸至儒學孝文化層面的理路上來探索,或將有助于對質任現象的深入思考。

Ma Chao’s abandonment of his father,a political hostage in Cao Cao’s hands,was widely denounced by his contemporaries.This case can be seen from multiple points of view,among them that of Eastern Han society,with its veneration of filial piety,fraternal duty,moral integrity and righteousness,and that of the social mores of the Northwestern ethnic groups in the Liangzhou area.The hostage system was also closely connected with the diplomatic struggles between Wei and Wu.Sun Quan’s diplomatic strategy in the Battle of Yiling,and especially his successful refusal of Cao Pi’s demand that he send his son as a hostage,not only gained space for the existence and continuance of Wu,but also,to some extent,delayed Wei’s unification of the three kingdoms.In Wei’s decisive conquest of Shu,the practice of taking diplomatic hostages and the law on punishment of deserters(shi wang fa 士亡法) played a role in preventing Zhong Hui from rising in rebellion.By taking into account the special background of the wars of this period,from the division of the late Han through to unification in the early Jin,and by extending our approach to encompass the Confucian culture of filial piety,we may be able to gain a deeper understanding of the practice of hostage taking at that time.