乾嘉三大家
qián​jiā​sān​dà​jiā

three great masters of the Qianlong-Jiaqing period

  1. 乾 qián
    [trigram]
    One of the Eight Trigrams (☰) symbolizing heaven and the male principle; one of the Sixty-four Hexagrams (䷀); the compass point 315° (northwest)
  2. 嘉 jiā noun
    excellent
    (bound form) excellent; fine; auspicious; beautiful
  3. 三 sān numeral
    three
    the number three; 3
  4. 大家 dà​jiā
    master
    a great master or eminent expert in a specific field