Last updated: December 5, 2011
First Published March 5, 2004
The Three Monkeys
A 400 year old Japanese
image for a 2,500 year old Chinese code of conduct
Hear no evil speak no evil
see no evil
Also
Known As: No Evil
Monkeys, Three Wise Monkeys, Mystic Monkeys, Morality Monkeys
This web site is for those
nice folks who collect the three "No Evil" monkeys. Whether you are a casual or
a serious collector, just starting or long time collector, we invite you to join our USA group.
Send email requests,
questions and/or comments to Bruce Kittess,
webmaster@thethreemonkeys.com
Dear Fellow Collectors,
We are thrilled to be hosting the 2012 Monkeys
Meeting in beautiful Chicago, Illinois. The dates we have
selected are starting on Thursday night July 12th and ending
Sunday morning July 15th. Please mark your calendars and
plan on being with us that weekend. Much more information as time draws closer.
Sheila and Burt Handler
|
Our 7th meeting
in Carson City, Nevada,
this past July is history.
The highlight of our
meeting came when we were all surprised to view a fantastic, very creative, three monkey video produced by our long time
collector friend, Vidner McCraw:
"Life of a Three Wise Monkeys
Collector" a
must see at
http://youtube.com/user/Vidman10
More photos of our meeting may be viewed on
Emil Schuttenhelm's
webpage from beautiful Switzerland:
http://three-monkeys.info/carson/carson2.htm
Emil Schuttenhelm, a Swiss collector for 35 years, has a terrific webpage. You
can see hundreds of pictures and learn in great detail about collectors and
collecting. His website is presented in
English,
Dutch,
German and
French. Best of all it is a user friendly site
to shop in Europe, the world's largest three monkey marketplace.
Three Monkeys......Three
Perspectives......Three Proverbs
Proverb
1 The subject of this webpage, from the
East, a noble moral code to follow, avoid evil in all forms.
"Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil."
Proverb 2
Professor Archer Taylor (1890-1973), a folklorist, writes about a Roman proverb. He traced it's early origins to a
sermon in Paris about 1300 AD and to Gesta Romanorum, a Latin collection of
folklore and legends in the late 14th century. "Audi, vide, tace, si vis vivere
in pace." "Hear, see, be silent, if you want to
live in peace."
Proverb 3
A Proverb
in the making for the 21st century. "Hear all, see
all and speak out for freedom and liberty, if you want to live in peace."
About Us
Origin of the Three Monkeys
Collecting the Monkeys
Webmaster's
Favorite Sets
About Us
We initially met on eBay, aggressively
bidding against each other, trying to acquire sets of "see no, hear no and speak
no evil" monkeys. A collector, Susan Scribner, brought us together in
St Louis, MO in October 2001, to meet in person and to share our common interest.
The group now holds conferences where we socialize, hear interesting speakers,
trade sets and conduct our own silent auctions.
No charter, no dues, no officers, no rules and regulations,
just for regular folks like me and thee.
Past meetings
Our 2006 meeting in St Louis was special: our guest speaker
was Mr. Arun Gandhi.
Mr. Arun Gandhi is the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi, the
Father of India, is recognized worldwide as the one who brought freedom
through non-violence. Mahatma is know to have had few material possessions;
he had a tin cup and spoon, a pair of sandals, his glasses and.....a set of no
evil monkeys! Arun explained to us the meaning of these monkeys for his
grandfather and the connection of the adage to Indian culture.
The work of his grandfather had a great influence on Arun Gandhi. In 1999,
he and his wife, Sunanda, founded the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence
dedicated to nonviolence worldwide.
Origin of the Three Monkeys
Consider the following:
The monkey was included as the 9th animal
of 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac about 2600 BCE.
Monkeys have been held sacred and/or in
high esteem for centuries: the Hanuman Languor in India, the Rhesus Macaque in China and the Japanese
Macaque (Snow Monkey) in Japan. Monkey folklore existed centuries before
Taoism, Buddhism or Confucianism.
Three of the world's greatest teachers lived
and taught in the Far East within the same century.
Buddha (563-483 BCE) born in
India, preached for forty five years. Buddhism arrived in China in the 1st
or 2nd century and in Japan 538 AD. In 788 A.D., a Japanese monk, Saicho
(766-822 AD) founded the Tendai Buddhist sect in Japan.
Confucius (551-479 BCE) in
about 500 BC wrote the Chinese Book of Rites or Li Chi. "Li" means
regulation of conduct, custom and law, and "chi" means book.
Confucius
advises "look not at what is contrary to Li, listen not to what contrary to Li,
speak not what is contrary to Li."(XII.1) Confucius edited the Book of Poems
(dating from 1,000 B.C. to 600 B.C.) from 3,000 poems to 300 poems. He said the
300 verses can be summed up in a single phrase, "Don't think in an evil way."
(II.2)
Lao Tse (604-531 BCE) a Chinese philosopher,
founded Taoism. A Taoist folk tradition, known as the Koshin belief or
practice, was introduced to Japan from China by Tendai Buddhists monks in the
late 10 century. Koshin worship spread in Japan during the
10th and 11th centuries and flourished until 1868. Late in the Muromachi period 1338-1573 it became
customary for the three monkeys to appear on stone pillars in Japan during the
observance of Koshin.
We collectors are the most familiar with the Toshogu Shrine, built in the
early 17th century, in Nikko, Japan. On the walls of the Sacred Stable, are eight panels
which may have been
carved by Hidari Jingoro (1594-1651). Jingoro may have incorporated Confucius's Code
of Conduct into a story of monkeys depicting man's life cycle. The
most famous and most photographed is panel two our three no evil monkeys.
The three monkeys appeared on koshin stones perhaps a hundred years prior to Jingoro's
carvings. Hence, Jingoro may have been the first known
artist to display the images of the three monkeys and with a date certain, but please read on.
Panel 1. With love and care of the parent,
baby monkey grows. The parent is looking ahead to the future of her child.
Panel 2. See no evil, hear no evil, say no evil and grow
gently.
Panel 3. When alone, look around carefully and search for
the way one wishes to follow.
Panel 4. The higher one seeks the more he wants.
Know when to stop wanting beyond his needs.
Panel 5. Be kind and considerate to those less fortunate
then you are.
Panel 6. A mate helps one enjoy life
but he must remember that life is not always honey.
Panel 7. Turbulent life can be sailed through peacefully
when man and wife cooperate with each other.
Panel 8. Expecting mother monkey. Arrival of new
generation shows god's love, paternal love and child's compassion.
Our Kyoto Connection:
In Spring 2009, Emil Schuttenhelm*,his
wife and I visited Japan on monkey
business. We spent five days and evenings with Mr. Michio Iida and his
wife in Kyoto. We visited many shrines and temples, most associated with
the three monkeys. Mr. Iida, is a Kyoto native, a career in the airline
industry, lifelong three monkey collector, author of nine books and just published
book on The Three Monkeys World Wide (we regret his books are written only in Japanese).
We thought it unusual for a Japanese author to suggest the origin of the three
monkeys was not Japanese. Of course we know now Mr. Iida is an
extraordinary man. He is a researcher, his books are written for researchers and
he not content to accept what is copied from history book to history book. Mr.
Iida is a free thinker, has an open mind, open sight and open hearing. He listens and speaks
softly. More about
Mr. Michio Iida
(Click here). Our visit has caused me
to revise
Origin of the Three Monkeys.
Near the Imperial Palace in
Kyoto, the Imperial capital of Japan from 794 AD to 1868 AD, is Rozanji
Temple, founded in 938, moved to its current site in 1573 and rebuilt after a
fire in 1758. Inside the entrance is a prominent large wooden panel depicting seven monkeys. It is believed the seven monkeys
are a tribute to Ganzan Daishi (aka Ryougen), a very popular Tendai Buddhist sage (912-985) and author of Song of Sannou. It is possible the three monkeys featured in
panels at Toshogu Shrine originated 8 centuries earlier.
1. For lofty ambitions
better stand by yourself.
2. In other's company no
way not to tell what you see and hear.
3. Without company still
face reality not thinking the world is nothing but a dream.
4. Seeing is agonizing,
better not to see.
5. Hearing causes desire
and discontent, better not to hear.
6. Whatever you think,
think not ill of others.
7. Think-not is better than
see-not, hear-not, speak-not.
Song of Sannou, Ganzan Daishi (912-985)
A wider world viewpoint beyond
Japan:
Mr. Iida believes there are many
indications the three monkeys predate their appearance in Japan. Ancient urban
civilizations have come and gone and unfortunately there are few monkey
artifacts available in museums. Mr. Iida has assembled drawings and
photos of
the monkeys from civilizations that flourished before the Christian era: in
central Africa the Ashanti in Ghana, 3,000 BCE, Benin,
and Togo; Ancient Egypt in the
north and el Amarna,1350 BCE; the island of
Cyprus dating back 9,000 BCE; Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilizations; the Indus Valley
and of course China and India and the Indo China peninsula that lies between
them. Angkor Wat in Cambodia is of special interest to Mr. Iida.
The message may have originated
and/or been adopted by other civilizations. One may question is it possible
for a message or an image to have spread so far and wide so long ago? Consider the many
armies and the ancient trade routes, caravans of horses and of camels and
voyages by ships on seas. Monkeys or apes, as they were earlier called, were transported northward
from central Africa to serve as pets and status symbols. In the bible, referring to King Solomon, 900 BCE, Kings
10:22 : "For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of
Hiram: once in three years came the navy bringing gold, and silver,
ivory, and apes,
and peacocks."
The result of Mr. Iida's research
and writings will be to initiate more research; in time more information will be
discovered. We introduced this webpage as "A 400
year old Japanese image for a 2,500 year old Chinese code of conduct."
Maybe the image and/or message is 5,000 or 6,000 years old from earlier civilizations?
For the present, all things considered, the timeless image and message remain and
are easily understood
.... avoid evil in all forms!
A Japanese Folktale of Prudence
In a Japanese temple, an image of a meditating Buddha is
seated on a lotus blossom. In front of him are three little monkeys, one
with its hands over its eyes, another over its ears, and the third covering its
mouth. What do these three monkeys signify? By its gesture the first
one says: " I do not see evil and folly." The second one says: "I do not
hear them." and the third: "I do not speak them."
In the same way, the wise man is prudent in what he looks at,
in what he listens to, and in what he says. He considers the consequences,
thinks of the morrow, and if he does not know his way, he asks.
Collecting the Monkeys
An easy task collecting you say? A noted Dutch collector,
since 1975, estimates that there are over 20,000 sets on the market and
still growing. Does it not convey their popularity? Is it because their
message, in it's simplicity, is instantly understood, transcending many cultures and
languages through the centuries?
The Monkeys are found in many
forms
Side by side, back to back, attached, unattached, hanging,
totems, threesomes, foursomes, inros, netsukes, okimonos,
ojimes, standing, sitting, bending, knees up, legs crossed, some with colored
coats or just plain coats, some on bases, some with faces red, some standing on
just one leg and even one that does it all.
The Monkeys come from many
countries
China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Indonesia,
Singapore, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, USA,, Canada, Mexico, Brazil,
Uruguay, Ireland, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Holland, Italy, Germany, Austria,
Belgium, France, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Kenya,
Australia.
The monkeys are made of many materials
Gold, silver, pewter, brass, bronze, iron, copper, spelter, hippo ivory, mammoth
ivory, elephant ivory, bone, jade, lapis, amber, soapstone, clay, ceramic,
porcelain, glass, ironwood, cedar, boxwood, teak, olivewood, coconut, bamboo,
plastic, plaster, resins, celluloid, tagua nut, coal and rubber.
A wonderful site to visit, Three Brass Wise Monkeys, is
presented by Mr. Vin Callcut
www.oldcopper.org/three_wise_monkeys.htm
Really nice sets
Daum, Lladro, Limoges, Lalique, Royal Copenhagen, Majolica,
Murano
The popular monkeys appear
everywhere
Clocks, lamps, ashtrays, candlestick holders, little boxes,
bags, coat hangers, mugs, cups, jewelry, games, forks and spoons and knives,
napkin holders, letter openers, bottle openers, corkscrews, dinner bells,
towels, rugs, sweaters and shirts and socks, bookends, incense burners, desk
sets, fan pulls, toothpick holders, paperweights, wall hangings, dishes,
bowls, vases and on and on. Not to forget in poems and pictures, in
advertising, on book covers, on video covers!
and how do we describe them
Precious, cute, priceless, adorable, lovely, superb, very nice, very old,
early, brand
new, rare, vintage, Meiji, mint in box, exquisite, fabulous, classic,
unique, unusual, different, whimsical, weird, awesome or just plain "cool".
the graduation
And when you think you've got enough, it's time to grow to
other stuff. No evil pigs and billy goats, frogs and bears and dogs and
cats, no telling when, no evil bats?
Ready to join our email
list? We'd like to know a little about you:
1. Do you collect
no evil monkeys only?
2. If no, what
other no evil animals do you collect?
3. How long have
you been collecting the no evils?
4. About how many
sets do you have?
5. Why did you
start collecting the no evils?
6. Do you also
collect "flat" pieces like poems, cartoons, pictures, etc?
7. Would you like
to be on our email list for our next meeting in the USA?
Send email
requests, questions and/or comments to Bruce Kittess,
webmaster@thethreemonkeys.com
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