剪草除根斬草除根jiǎn cǎo chú gēnpluck up the trouble by the root; remove the root of the trouble
? 只要～，莫教壞了我高門清德。(《西游記》256)All I want is to pluck up the trouble by the root,so that the pure virtue of our Gao family will not be tainted./……或暗使人算計(jì)，務(wù)將張華治死，方～，保住自己的名聲。(《紅樓夢》897) …or send assassins to kill him secretly. In this way the root of the trouble would be removed and her reputation assured. 剪草除根jian cao chu gencut the weeds and dig up the roots—remove the root of trouble |