Of course, these observations argue that, as a general function of human communication, the principles of these principles are universal, but their relative importance is different in different cultural, social and linguistic environments。 These differences are influenced by a series of factors, such as society, religion, geography, and so on in the long history and the formation of the politeness principle people follow particularly in Chinese society, which has great differences with the principles in the western countries。

3。 The Differences of Politeness Principles between Chinese and English Cultures

Although politeness is a general phenomenon of human society, we must be aware of the relativity of politeness while recognizing the universality。 Under the perse cultural backgrounds from different countries and nations, there are great differences in achievement of politeness method and judgment standard in manners, which are gradually developed under the long-term influence of social, historical, humanistic, geographic and other factors。 English and Chinese are produced and applied to different social and historical backgrounds, so it’s also different in usage and emphasis on politeness principles。

3。1 Politeness Principles in English

American linguist Grice brought forward the cooperative principle in verbal communication。 He believed that in all language communication, the speaker and the hearer should follow certain principles, making the process of communication in the direction of understanding and cooperation。 The specific content of the CP has four criteria, “Quantity Maxim”, “Quality Maxim”, “Relevant Maxim”, and “Manner Maxim” (Grice 89)。 But the maxim of manner sometimes does not be complied with the principle of communication in the process of human communication, or even deliberately breached。 In other words, the principle of cooperation can not completely cover the various forms of conversation (Liu 30)。 According to this phenomenon, the British linguist Leech believes that the most essential reason for people breaking the cooperative principle of verbal communication is that they should follow another principle----Politeness Principle, and make the summary and classification to it from the perspectives of Pragmatics and Interpersonal Rhetoric。 Leech pointed out that the principle of cooperation is to guide us what we should say to achieve the desired goals, while the principle of politeness can help maintain friendly relationship from the two sides (Leech 142)。 As a result, the cooperative principle and the politeness principle can complement each other and restrict the people’s conversation; it also provides a reference and standard for the correct use of polite expressions。 It includes six criteria: 

 Tact Maxim（得体准则）: to minimize the harm to others and maximize the benefit of others。 

 Generosity Maxim（慷慨准则）: to minimize your own benefits and to try to make yourself suffer losses。

 Approbation Maxim（赞誉准则）: to belittle others as little as possible and to compliment others as much as possible。 

 Modesty Maxim（谦逊准则）: to praise yourself as little as possible and to try to disparage yourself。 

 Agreement Maxim（一致准则）: to decrease the differences between the two sides and increase the consistency of both parties。 

 Sympathy Maxim（同情准则）: to reduce the offence between both sides and raise the mutual sympathy。

3。2 Politeness Principles in Chinese源F于K优B尔C论V文N网WwW.youeRw.com 原文+QQ752^018766

In the late years, the research on politeness principle has made considerable progress in our country。 Professor Hu Wenzhong (Hu 28) and Professor He Ziran have carried on the elaboration to the politeness principle in cross cultural communication (He 49)。 According to the distinguishing features of Chinese historical and cultural background and Chinese people’s daily communication, Mr。 Gu Yueguo of the Peking University proposed four aspects of the politeness features in Chinese cultural communication, namely, “respectfulness”, “modesty”, “attitudinal warmth”, and “refinement” (Gu 15)。 Meanwhile, with reference to Leech's six principles of politeness, Mr。 Gu summarizes the politeness principle which is suitable for China’s national conditions, there are the following five aspects: