gather in little knots
Zan San Ji Wu, a Chinese idiom, Pinyin is Cu á ns ā NJ í w ǔ, which means to gather in piles or groups. It's from Bing Xin's to the little readers.
The origin of Idioms
Bing Xin's "to little readers" 11: "I remember last night when those children took the gift, gathered together, concentrated, and opened the package layer by layer."
Idiom usage
To come together in three, three, five, five
gather in little knots
an ice mountain is hardly reliable - bīng shān nán kào
spring flower and autumn moon -- seasonal views - chūn huā qiū yuè