also: ちからしろ
noun
tax paid to avoid forced labor (ritsuryō period); tax in kind
Historical term from the ritsuryō system. Refers to a tax paid in goods or money to substitute for compulsory labor service.
See also: 力役
律令制では、庸は布や米などで納められた。
Under the ritsuryō system, the yō tax was paid in cloth, rice, or other goods.
noun
Only with reading よう
Obsolete meaning. In modern Japanese, mediocrity is usually expressed with 凡庸 or 平凡.
古い文献では、「庸」が凡庸の意味で使われることがある。
In old texts, 庸 can be used to mean mediocrity.
Alternate kanji spelling for the historical tax sense, literally 'labor substitute'. Rarely encountered.
The kanji 庸 originally meant 'use' or 'employ', and in the ritsuryō context came to denote a substitute tax. The reading ちからしろ for 力代 is a literal compound meaning 'labor substitute'.