Origin of "no evil" monkeys

General Questions
#1

Everyone’s seen the three monkeys covering their respective eyes, ears, and mouth: see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. But where did they first come from? Were they from some classical fable or some 20th century kitsch?

#2

Three? My monkey statue has four. :eek:

I always heard that it was chinese.

#3

They’re closely associated with a certain temple in Japan, but may have been originally Chinese. See http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/8/messages/383.html

#4

We had an interesting thread on this a few months ago:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=288510&highlight=no+evil

#5

Slight nitpick. The famous carving of the three monkeys is found at the Toshogu, the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, in Nikko, Japan.

#6

There are 5.

#7

Isn’t that what his cite said?

#8

Let’s see, there’s “See No Evil,” “Speak No Evil,” “Hear No Evil,” and “Have No Fun,” what’s the fifth monkey?

#9

Koko.

#10

Love.

#11

I thought there were 12 Monkeys.

#12

I always like Bob Dole’s remark when seeing ex-presidents Carter, Ford and Nixon in a celebration - “Look: See No Evil, Hear No Evil… and Evil”.

#13

Koko is an APE, goddamnit, not a monkey.

Sorry, it’s just like when someone says “irregardless” :smiley:

#14

Ook.

#15

He’s the little guy wearing the fez, & banging on the cymbals.
You gotta love the Fez, man!

#16

I am pretty sure a barrel holds more than 12.

#17

Hmmm. . .

  1. See-No-Evil
  2. Hear-No-Evil
  3. Speak-No-Evil
  4. King Kong
  5. Donkey Kong
  6. Mighty Joe Young
  7. Cheeta
  8. J. Fred Muggs
  9. Phoebe B. Beebee
  10. Mr. Teeny
  11. Bubbles
  12. ?

Who am I missing

#18

Lancelot Link, Secret Agent

#19

Bonzo! :smack:

#20

The Evil Monkey in Chris Griffin’s closet?