APAD: See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil
Meaning:
Ignore bad behavior by pretending not to see it.
Background:
In English, this expression is generally used in reference to those who choose
to turn a blind eye to wrongdoings; but its original meaning, rooted in
Confucianism, is to teach prudence and the importance of avoiding evil.
It is believed that Buddhist monks brought the expression from India to Japan by
way of China around the 8th century. In Japan, it is typically depicted by three
monkeys -- one covering its eyes, the next covering its ears and the third its
mouth -- because of the pun on zaru (an archaic suffix used to negate a verb)
which sounds very similar to the Japanese for monkey.
By the 17th century, a group of three monkeys had become a popular depiction on
Japanese Buddhist temples. The most famous is found on the third panel of an
eight-panel sculpture on the Sacred Stable at the Toshogu Shrine in Nikko (about
150 km north of Tokyo), which was built in 1617.
Sometimes, a fourth monkey is shown either crossing its arms or covering its
genitals, which represents "sezaru" (do no evil). This aligns with the quote
attributed to Confucius: "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" (Analects of Confucius).
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I heard this expression first in the movie "The Scent of a Woman" when I was a
student in a Chinese college. Today, three decades later, I learned that it came
from the same place as I did.
