Three wise monkeys

The Kōshin belief or practice is a Japanese folk religion with Chinese Taoism origins and ancient Shinto influence.

During the later part of the Muromachi period, it was customary to display stone pillars depicting the three monkeys during the observance of Kōshin.

The saying in Japanese is mizaru, kikazaru, iwazaru (見ざる, 聞かざる, 言わざる) "see not, hear not, speak not", where the -zaru is a negative conjugation on the three verbs, matching zaru, the rendaku form of saru (猿) "monkey" used in compounds.

[citation needed] "The Three Mystic Apes" (Sambiki Saru) were described as "the attendants of Saruta Hito no Mikoto or Kōshin, the God of the Roads".

Ten-Tei will then decide to punish bad people, making them ill, shortening their time alive, and in extreme cases putting an end to their lives.

Sometimes there is a fourth monkey depicted, Sezaru, who symbolizes the principle of "do no evil", which fits with the full quote from Analects of Confucius.

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 main exception to his lifestyle of non-possession was a small statue of the three monkeys – Bapu, Ketan and Bandar – which was gifted to him by Nichidatsu Fujii.

[14] 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.

"[17] The maxim inspired an award-winning 2008 Turkish film by director Nuri Bilge Ceylan called Three Monkeys (Üç Maymun).