📖 Meaning
Describes evil forces or corrupt influences that have deep foundations and are tightly intertwined, like tangled tree roots that are extremely difficult to pull out. It conveys the idea of entrenched, systemic corruption or criminal networks that resist removal due to their pervasive connections.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom is a variant of the more common expression 盘根错节 (pán gēn cuò jié), which first appeared in the Book of Later Han (后汉书) describing complex, deep-rooted entanglements. The character 蟠 specifically evokes the image of a dragon or serpent coiling around something, intensifying the sense of sinister, parasitic grip. Though no single canonical source is recorded for this exact four-character formulation, it has been used in classical prose to condemn entrenched corrupt factions whose power is mutually reinforcing and nearly impossible to dislodge.
💡 Example Usage
地方上的贪腐势力深根蟠结，绝非一朝一夕能够铲除。
The corrupt forces in the region are deeply entrenched and tightly intertwined, and cannot be eradicated overnight.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 深根蟠结
- Pinyin: shēn gēn pán jié
- Literal Translation: deep, root, coiled, knotted
- Category: Power
- Characters: 4