庸

• Systemic/Administrative: Corvée labor, labor tax, or service owed to the state; the act of hiring, commissioning, or putting someone to work (often implying associated payment).
• Evaluative: Common, usual, mundane, or mediocre. Reduplicated forms (e.g., 庸庸) emphasize a lack of distinction or merit.

• Verb: To employ; to hire; to spend or expend resources.
• Noun: Labor service; corvée tax; the cost of employment.
• Adjective: Ordinary; common; mediocre.

• Contrast with 用 (yòng): While both can mean "use," 庸 tends toward social or systemic contexts (employment, state obligation), whereas 用 refers to general utility.

• Variants: Semantic variants include U+342F and U+2018C.
• Readings: Tang-period reading //iong//.

The translator should determine if the text is treating the glyph as a systemic category or a qualitative judgment:

• In texts concerning governance, taxation, or peasantry, prioritize labor service/tax.
• In critical, ethical, or philosophical texts, prioritize mediocrity/the mundane.