| Euphemism originates in taboo and manifests itself in the form of indirect language. As a social and cultural phenomenon, euphemism is used to effectively lubricate interpersonal relations and maintain the face of interactants. It is therefore commonly agreed that euphemism relates closely to face and politeness. Literature review indicates that euphemism has long been a subject in the realm of rhetoric. Hence, the definitions of euphemism have also long been confined to the field of rhetoric. Recent years has witnessed remarkable progress in the study of euphemism with its expansion into the domains of sociolinguistics, semantics and pragmatics.The present study proceeds from a systematic literature review of indirectness of euphemism as well as related notions and theories such as face, facework, Grice's CP and CI, Leech's PP, Brown and Levinson's face theory as well as Gu Yueguo's PP. It is followed by a brief retrospect of the origin of euphemism and different definitions with the conclusion that the definition provided by Shao Junhang is so far the most comprehensive and objective. As for the research that has already been done on euphemism, scholars abroad have mainly produced dictionaries and monographs with regard to the etymology, development, categorization and usage of euphemism. Some researchers investigate euphemisms in literary works with the help of linguistic theories and principles. Studies of euphemism at home are varied. Apart from the rhetorical investigation of euphemism, there have been dictionaries and books published. At the same time, influenced by a variety of linguistic theories, significant research has been done on the formational mechanisms, principles of usage and formational devices of euphemism from such perspectives as sociolinguistics, semantics and pragmatics.As a literary masterpiece, A Dream of Red Mansions unfolds a panoramic picture of a highly ritualized and strictly hierarchical feudal society. At the same time, it reveals the important role the traditional Chinese idea of'harmony and integrity'assumes in interpersonal relations. The novel's complexity of social and familial relations and politic handling of a large cast of characters lend abundant historical, cultural and linguistic resources to the study of the art of language in the novel. So far great efforts have been made at the rhetorical characteristics of the novel. Therefore, it is no wonder that research on euphemisms of the novel has also been primarily rhetorical. Quite a few researchers have made comparative studies of euphemisms between the Chinese version and the English version from the perspective of translation. In very recent years, attempts have also been made at the euphemisms of the novel in the light of related pragmatic principles. But up till now, no systematic pragmatic study has been conducted on the euphemisms in the character utterances of the novel.Built upon the notions of face and politeness, Spencer-Oatey's rapport management is a theoretical framework for interpersonal relations with face and rights as core components. As facework is typically a Chinese conflict-preventative mechanism, the theoretical foundation and core components of rapport management happen to be in concert with the traditional Chinese attachment to interpersonal relations and face. This dissertation takes Spencer-Oatey's rapport management as its theoretical framework and investigates the euphemisms in the character utterances of the novel. Considering the complexity and rigidity of social and familial hierarchy and power relations, the present study takes power as its major variable. Other influencing factors such as rapport orientation, message content, relational role, communicative activity and rapport outcome are by no means neglected. They are analyzed comprehensively with power.The study is both theoretical and empirical. Observation is mainly conducted in the objective description of euphemisms whereas qualitative method works mainly in the demonstration and categorization analysis of typical examples. The result of the study reveals that the theory of rapport management has a strong controlling force and explanatory power over the euphemisms in the character utterances of the novel. That is, the theory has proved to be largely universal in terms of culture and time differences.There are some implications in the study. It has tentatively and innovatively verified the necessity and feasibility of the theory of rapport for the analysis of euphemisms in the character utterances of A Dream of Red Mansions. It is assumed that the study has both theoretical and practical implications. A systematic study has been conducted on the character utterances, in which euphemisms are put in a dynamic context with power as a major factor influencing the strategic use of euphemisms. The result of the pragmatic investigation of euphemisms in the character utterances of DRM is expected to supplement and enrich the unremitting nation-wide and even world-wide academic studies of the novel, namely, Redology. As euphemisms are extensively used in interpersonal communication, they are largely context-dependent. The variables governing the use of euphemisms are also concerns of the field of pragmatics. So the findings of the study are supposed to help, to some extent, verify and enrich the related principles in pragmatics. The present study has taken A Dream of Red Mansions as its text and attempts to analyze the euphemisms in the character utterances of the novel in light of the theory of rapport management. The theory has proved to be capable of governing and explaining the option and use of euphemisms in the novel, which means that this theory can also be applied to the pragmatic analysis of other texts in both English and Chinese languages. Language is both universal and culture-bound. As a part of language, euphemisms reflect yet are constrained by cultural traditions and national mentality. The findings of the present research have some implications to culturology and ethnography.
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