Pictorial maxim, embodying "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil"
"Sanzaru" redirects here. For the game company, see Sanzaru Games.
"See no evil hear no evil" redirects here. For the 1989 comedy film, see See No Evil, Hear No Evil (film).
The three wise monkeys at the Tōshō-gū shrine in Nikkō, Japan
The three wise monkeys are a Japanese pictorial maxim, embodying the proverbial principle "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil".[1] The three monkeys are
Mizaru (見ざる), who sees no evil, covering his eyes
Kikazaru (聞かざる), who hears no evil, covering his ears
Iwazaru (言わざる), who speaks no evil, covering his mouth.[2]
Lafcadio Hearn refers to them as the three mystic apes.[3]
There are at least two divergent interpretations of the maxim: in Buddhist tradition, it is about avoiding evil thoughts and deeds. In the West, however, it is often interpreted as dealing with impropriety by turning a blind eye.[4]
Outside Japan the monkeys' names are sometimes given as Mizaru, Mikazaru[5] and Mazaru,[6] as the last two names were corrupted from the Japanese originals.[7][8] The monkeys are Japanese macaques, a common species in Japan.
^Wolfgang Mieder. 1981. "The Proverbial Three Wise Monkeys," Midwestern Journal of Language and Folklore, 7: 5-
38.
^Oldest reference to the correct monkey names in English. Source:
Japan Society of London (1893). Transactions and proceedings of the Japan Society, London, Volume 1. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner and Co. p. 98.
^Lafcadio Hearn (1894). Glimpses of unfamiliar Japan, volume 2, p. 127.
^Pornpimol Kanchanalak (21 April 2011). "Searching for the fourth monkey in a corrupted world". The Nation. Thailand. Archived from the original on 28 August 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
^"Mikazaru - Google Search". www.google.com.
^Oldest reference of the incorrect Mazaru in Google Books. Source:
Anderson, Isabel (1920). The spell of Japan. Page. p. 379.
^Worth, Fred L. (1974). The Trivia Encyclopedia. Brooke House. p. 262. ISBN 978-0-912588-12-4.
^Shipley, Joseph Twadell (2001). The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European Roots. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 249. ISBN 978-0-8018-6784-2.
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