 The Three Wise Monkeys carved above the entrance to a stable in the Nikkō Tōshōgū shrine in Japan The three wise monkeys (Japanese: 三猿, san-zaru, or 三匹の猿, san-biki no saru, "three monkeys") are a pictorial maxim. Together they embody the proverbial principle to "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". The three monkeys are Mizaru (見猿), covering his eyes, who sees no evil; Mikazaru (聞か猿), covering his ears, who hears no evil; and Mazaru (言わ猿), covering his mouth, who speaks no evil. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2229x1308, 3218 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): TÅshÅ-gÅ« NikkÅ TÅshÅ-gÅ« Three wise monkeys Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added...
Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2229x1308, 3218 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): TÅshÅ-gÅ« NikkÅ TÅshÅ-gÅ« Three wise monkeys Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added...
Torii and pagoda at entrance to Toshogu Nikko Toshogu (日光東照宮: Nikkō Tōshōgū) is a Shinto shrine dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa line of shoguns in Japan. ...
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For the music piece by Steve Reich see Proverb (Reich) Look up proverb in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Sometimes there is a fourth monkey depicted with the three others; the last one, Shizaru (し猿), covers his abdomen or crotch and symbolizes the principle of "do no evil".
Origin The source that popularized this pictorial maxim is a 17th century carving over a door of the famous Tōshō-gū shrine in Nikkō, Japan. The maxim, however, probably originally came to Japan with a Tendai-Buddhist legend possibly from India via China in the 8th century (Yamato Period). NikkÅ TÅshÅ-gÅ« (日光æ±ç…§å®®) is a Shinto shrine dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa line of shoguns in Japan. ...
Great Gate, Nikko, circa 1860-1900. ...
Tendai (Japanese: 天å°å®—, Tendai-shÅ«) is a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism, a descendant of the Chinese Tiantai or Lotus Sutra school. ...
A replica of an ancient statue found among the ruins of a temple at Sarnath Buddhism is a philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, SiddhÄrtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. It had subsequently been accepted by...
(7th century — 8th century — 9th century — other centuries) Events The Iberian peninsula is taken by Arab and Berber Muslims, thus ending the Visigothic rule, and starting almost 8 centuries of Muslim presence there. ...
The following text needs to be harmonized with text in the article History of Japan#Yamato period. ...
In China, a similar phrase exists in the Analects of Confucius: "Look not at what is contrary to propriety; listen not to what is contrary to propriety; speak not what is contrary to propriety; make no movement which is contrary to propriety" (非禮勿視， 非禮勿聽，非禮勿言， 非禮勿動). It may be that this phrase was simplified after it was brought into Japan. Engraving of Confucius. ...
Though the teaching had nothing to do with monkeys, the concept of the three monkeys originated from a word play. In Japanese, zaru, which is a (less common) negative form of a verb, sounds like saru meaning monkey (it is one reading of 猿, the Chinese character for monkey). The saying in Japanese is "見ざる、聞かざる、言わざる" (mizaru, kikazaru, iwazaru), literally "don't see, don't hear, don't speak". Therefore, it is evident how the monkeys may have originated from what one would see as an amusing play on words.
Meaning of the proverb Just as there is disagreement about the origin of the phrase, there are differing explanations of the meaning of "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." - Some simply take the proverb as a reminder not to be snoopy, nosy and gossipy.
- Early associations of the three monkeys with the fearsome six-armed deity Vajrakilaya link the proverb to the teaching of that cult that if we do not hear, see or talk evil, we ourselves shall be spared all evil. This may be considered similar to the English proverb "Speak of the devil - and the devil appears."
- Others believe the message is that a person who is not exposed to evil (through sight or sound) will not reflect that evil in their own speech and actions.
- Today "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" is commonly used to describe someone who doesn't want to be involved in a situation, or someone turning a wilful blind eye to the immorality of an act he is involved in.
Vajrakilaya is the Sanskrit name for a ritual tool used in Buddhism, Bon traditions. ...
For the music piece by Steve Reich see Proverb (Reich) Look up proverb in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Speak of the Devil is a phrase or idiom used in both written and spoken English. ...
The phrase turn a blind eye is attributed to Admiral Horatio Nelson. ...
Other representations Whatever the origin and meaning of "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil," it is one of the most visual phrases in existence. For many, especially in the western world, the proverb is strongly associated with the Three Wise Monkeys.
They have also been a motif in pictures, e.g. ukiyo-e, Japanese woodblock printings, by Keisai Eisen. Today they are known throughout Asia and in the Western world. View of Mount Fuji from Numazu, part of the Fifty-three Stations of the TÅkaidÅ series by Hiroshige, published 1850 Ukiyo-e ), pictures of the floating world, is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints (or woodcuts) and paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries, featuring motifs of...
An example of a bijin picture by Eisen - this was the type of picture for which he has become most well-known. ...
World map showing the location of Asia. ...
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See also (from left to right) Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil. ...
References - Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of America's Popular Proverbs and Sayings, Second Edition, Random House, New York, 2000. ISBN 0-375-70584-8.
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