Trivial - "See no evil, hear no evil and speak no evils"

What is the origin of the three wise monkeys who "See no evil, hear no evil and speak no evils"?

The monkeys appear in a wooden carving at the 17th century Toshogu shrine in Nikko, Japan. The shrine is the mausoleum of the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, and the monkeys were the guardians of the stables. The phrase," see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing,"in Japanese is , mizaru, kikazaru, iwazaru. The word for monkey(saru or zaru) sounds the same as the verb-ending zaru, so to represent the phrase with the three monkeys in the appropriate poses is a play on words.
Taken from Reader Digest March 2000