布

• Noun: Textiles; in early to mid-classical texts, this typically denotes hemp or ramie rather than cotton.
• Economic: A medium of exchange; in contexts of payment, tribute, or taxation, it may denote a unit of value rather than a physical commodity.
• Verb: To spread out or lay flat; to disperse or allocate (e.g., resources or the appointment of officials); to proclaim or announce a decree publicly.

When used as a verb, it is almost exclusively transitive.

Socially contrasted with silk (絲), serving as a marker for the commonality and the bureaucracy.

In poetic or high-style prose, be alert for semantic layering where the glyph may simultaneously evoke physical fabric and the act of revealing or disclosing information.