see no evil hear no evil speak no evil tattoo

In the Western world, the phrase symbolizes those who must deal with impropriety by turning a blind eye. The tattoos of three monkeys in the “hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil” stand for being of good mind, good speech, and good manners. There is one thing guaranteed, and that is ignoring the evil won’t make it vanish. Should we close our eyes to evil? Are we supposed to shut up when someone says awful things? If we look in the past, such thoughts have led to horrifying acts. However, this point of view is questionable. Those three little monkeys would represent a call to refuse the evil in our life. In the same sense, hearing the evil or speaking of it makes a part of us turning into evil. According to this idea, each time we see something terrible, a part of it enters our body. Through those monkeys, we have another approach: not to see the evil, not to hear the evil, and not to say evil things. But can it be that simple? This is such a philosophy that can hardly be reduced to this only sentence. The three wise monkeys are supposed to symbolize a way not to feel evil since common sense is: not to see anything, not to hear anything, and not to say anything. Additionally, in Japanese culture, the monkey is supposed to ward off evils. Time passing, “Saru” becomes “Zaru,” giving birth to “ sanzaru.” However, “zaru” is also a negative form that we could translate to “not to.” We can say that the common admitted meaning “ not see, not hear and not speak” could come from a Japanese play on words. Īccording to the Japanese language,” san” means three, and “Saru” means monkey. Still, it’s challenging to make the difference between legend and reality.įurthermore, one of the oldest known representations of those three monkeys is Nikko, Japan, in front of the Tshogu temple.

They are thought to be based on the idea that, in every human being, there are three wicked worms, the Sanshi, which, every sixty days, leave our body to report on our sins to a superior entity known as Ten-Tei.

Various legends assume that those three monkeys came from Japanese Koshin’s belief.

The first traces lead us to the Analects of Confucius (between the 4th and 11th century BC). However, he’s not the one who invented the three wise monkeys, but instead, the one who made them known. He decided to leave China for India after he realized that it was time to seek more Buddhist texts to bring to China. His name was Xuanzang, one of the most important translators of Buddhist texts in China. The legend says that this monk, while he was traveling, was escorted by a monkey. They have been brought into Buddhism by a monk in the 7th century. It is unknown when the three wise monkeys first appeared.

See no evil hear no evil speak no evil tattoo