also: ちからしろ
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
Under the ritsuryō system, the yō tax was paid in cloth, rice, or other goods.
Only with reading よう
Obsolete meaning. In modern Japanese, mediocrity is usually expressed with 凡庸 or 平凡.
In old texts, 庸 can be used to mean mediocrity.
mediocre; ordinary; commonplace; banal
middle way; golden mean; moderation · the Doctrine of the Mean
dependency; vassal state
ordinary person; common man
mediocre; inferior; commonplace; foolish
Standard kanji form for the historical tax sense and the obsolete mediocrity sense.
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'.