盤根錯節 pán gēn cuò jié

DEFINITIONS

  1. twisted roots and intertwined joints (idiom); complicated and very tricky
  2. knotty and deeply-rooted difficulties

CHARACTERS

盤 pán tray, plate, dish; examine
根 gēn
HSK 3
root, base(d on); foundation
錯 cuò error, blunder, mistake, wrong
節 jié knot, node, joint; section