Abstract:Interpersonal meaning, interpersonal functions and other relevant issues of interpersonal pragmatics have often been explored from the perspectives of politeness and face. However, the systematic studies on interpersonal relationship are insufficient. This paper first reviews the studies on interpersonal relationship in the three waves of politeness research, finding that relation is no longer a contextual factor or an interactional goal but an interactional achievement co-constructed in communication. Then it discusses the conceptualization of relation, and examines politeness and relational elements in research. Finally, it concludes that research on interpersonal relationship should attach importance to specific lingual cultural context, and dynamic relations based on relational elements co-constructed by members in society. Thus, politeness remains to be an important approach for examining interpersonal relationship, which also confirms and complements research about relation.