盤(pán)根錯節

- with twisted [coiled] roots and gnarled branches; a complicated affair; a great tangled root system; complicated and difficult to deal with; deeply involved social and political factors; deep-rooted; entangling alliancess with other countries; interwining roots forming an intricate mass; (as) the tree roots are twined together -- a difficult and confused affair; with twisting roots and intercrossing branches