page_title: Three wise monkeys
section_title: Cultural influences
hierarchical_section_title: Three wise monkeys / Cultural influences
caption_attribution_description: Three wise monkeys
context_page_description: The three wise monkeys are a Japanese pictorial maxim, embodying the proverbial principle "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". The three monkeys are Mizaru, who sees no evil, covering his eyes; Kikazaru, who hears no evil, covering his ears; and Iwazaru, who speaks no evil, covering his mouth.
  Lafcadio Hearn refers to them as the three mystic apes.
  There are various meanings ascribed to the monkeys and the proverb including associations with being of good mind, speech and action. The phrase is often used to refer to those who deal with impropriety by turning a blind eye.
  Outside Japan the monkeys' names are sometimes given as Mizaru, Mikazaru and Mazaru, as the last two names were corrupted from the Japanese originals. The monkeys are Japanese macaques, a common species in Japan.
context_section_description: The three wise monkeys, and the associated proverb, are known throughout Asia and outside Asia. They have been a motif in pictures, such as the ukiyo-e (Japanese woodblock printings) by Keisai Eisen, and are frequently represented in modern culture.
  Mahatma Gandhi's one notable exception to his lifestyle of non-possession was a small statue of the three monkeys - Bapu, Ketan and Bandar. Today, a larger representation of the three monkeys is prominently displayed at the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, where Gandhi lived from 1915 to 1930 and from where he departed on his famous salt march. Gandhi's statue also inspired a 2008 artwork by Subodh Gupta, Gandhi's Three Monkeys.
  The three monkeys are depicted in the trial scene in the 1968 Planet of the Apes. An example of semiotics, as the judges mimic the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil monkeys.
  In a spoof of this saying, Bob Dole quipped about a meeting of former US Presidents: "Carter, Ford and Nixon: see no evil, hear no evil and evil." 
  The maxim inspired an award-winning 2008 Turkish film by director Nuri Bilge Ceylan called Three Monkeys (Üç Maymun).
caption: Brass casting
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