Three wise monkeys

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

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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.

In Buddhist tradition, the tenets of the proverb are about not dwelling on evil thoughts.

The proverb and the image are often used to refer to a lack of moral responsibility on the part of people who refuse to acknowledge impropriety, or feigning ignorance.^[13]

looking the other way

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".

Mizaru: U+1F648 🙈

SEE-NO-EVIL MONKEY

Kikazaru: U+1F649 🙉

HEAR-NO-EVIL MONKEY

Iwazaru: U+1F64A 🙊

SPEAK-NO-EVIL MONKEY

Unicode provides emoji representations of the monkeys in the Emoticons block as follows:^[19]

Buddhist : Right speech and right action

Noble Eightfold Path

Humata, Hukhta, Hvarshta, "good thoughts, good words, good deeds" in

Zoroastrianism

prohibition of gossip in Judaism

Lashon hara

three Sanskrit words referring to mind, speech and actions

Manasa, vacha, karmana

being able to convincingly claim ignorance of something incriminating

Plausible deniability

a formulation in Buddhism referring to body, speech and mind

Trikaya

knowingly refraining from pursuing available information or knowingly sheltering oneself from information

Willful blindness

Titelman, Gregory Y. (2000). Random House Dictionary of America's Popular Proverbs and Sayings (second ed.). New York: . ISBN 978-0-375-70584-7.

Random House

Archer Taylor, "Audi, Vidi, Tace" and the three monkeys

A. W. Smith, Folklore, Vol. 104, No. ½ pp. 144–150 "On the Ambiguity of the Three Wise Monkeys"