There are two major views of politeness: 1) politeness in terms of principles and maxims;2) politeness as the management of face. Brown and Levinson's universal politeness theory so far remains comprehensive and influential in connecting social and psychological parameters to linguistic strategies, yet it is not accepted without different voices. This reflects the different approaches to the study of politeness phenomena, one of which is universal versus cultural conventions. On one hand, some principles underlying the politeness behaviors are cross-culturally universal; on the other, specific cultural factors must be taken into account.