<P> There are various meanings ascribed to the monkeys and the proverb including associations with being of good mind, speech and action . In the Western world the phrase is often used to refer to those who deal with impropriety by turning a blind eye . </P> <P> 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 . </P> <P> The source that popularized this pictorial maxim is a 17th - century carving over a door of the famous Tōshō - gū shrine in Nikkō, Japan . The carvings at Toshogu Shrine were carved by Hidari Jingoro, and believed to have incorporated Confucius's Code of Conduct, using the monkey as a way to depict man's life cycle . There are a total of eight panels, and the iconic three wise monkeys picture comes from panel 2 . The philosophy, however, probably originally came to Japan with a Tendai - Buddhist legend, from China in the 8th century (Nara Period). It has been suggested that the figures represent the three dogmas of the so - called middle school of the sect . </P> <P> In Chinese, a similar phrase exists in the Analects of Confucius from 2nd to 4th century B.C.: "Look not at what is contrary to propriety; listen not to what is contrary to propriety; speak not what is contrary to propriety; make no movement which is contrary to propriety" (非禮 勿 視, 非禮 勿 聽, 非禮 勿 言, 非禮 勿 動). It may be that this phrase was shortened and simplified after it was brought into Japan . </P>

Where does see no evil hear no evil speak no evil come from