본고는 17세기 조선을 대표하는 禮學者이자 영남지역 禮學派의 거두인 寒岡 鄭逑(1543～1620)의 禮問答을 수록한 『寒岡先生四禮問答彙類』의 편찬 과정, 체재와 내용, 특징과 의의 등을 살펴본 것이다. 이 책은 한강의 문집인 『寒岡集』에 수록된 예문답을 위주로 채록하고 기타 자료에 산견되는 한강의 예문답까지 아울러서 冠婚喪祭의 四禮 체계로 정리하였다. 이 책은 다음과 같은 점에서 중요한 의미가 있다. 첫째, 『한강집』에 수록된 四禮 관련 문답을 추출하여 편찬하였기 때문에 사례에 대한 한강의 예설 관점을 집중적이고 일목요연하게 조망할 수 있다. 둘째, 관혼상제의 순서에 따라 세부 목차를 설정하고 그에 해당하는 예문답을 배치하여 예를 실행하는 과정에서 빈번하게 부딪치게 되는 疑禮 또는 變禮를 해결할 수 있는 구체적 준거를 제시함으로써 후인들의 예 실천을 용이하도록 하였다. 셋째, 관혼상제에 그치는 것이 아니라 方喪, 雜儀, 祠典 및 補遺까지 아우르고 있어 한강이 家禮뿐만 아니라 鄕禮와 邦禮까지 예학 연구의 범위를 확대하여 조선조 예학의 틀을 정립함과 동시에 예학의 새로운 전기를 마련했던 면모까지 살펴볼 수 있다. 넷째, ``彙類`` 형식의 예서 편찬을 통해 조선후기 영남지역 예학이 類聚·辨證·折衷의 학문 풍토 속에서 배태 발전되어 왔음을 확인할 수 있다.

This study examines Master Hangang`s Inquiries about and Answers to Four Ceremonial Manners Grouped into Similar Categories: its compilation process, system, contents, characteristics and significance. This book includes inquiries about and answers to manners by Gu Jeong(1543～1620) whose pen name was Hangang. He was an exceptional scholar studying ceremonial 　manners of the Joseon Dynasty in the 17th century, and also a leading master of studying ceremonial manners of the Yeongnam area. This compiled book focuses on the inquiries about and answers to manners included in the Hangang Collection of Writings by Hangang, along with his inquiries about and answers to ceremonial manners found in other books, organizing the systems of the four ceremonial manners about coming of age, weddings, funerals, and ancestral memorial services. The book is very important in terms of the following. First, the book selected and compiled the inquiries about and answers to the four ceremonial manners found in Hangang Collection of Writings, showing Gu Jeong`s view on those manners intensively and clearly. Second, the book made it easy for descendants to practice ceremonial manners. It established detailed content lists in the order of the four ceremonial manners, put down inquiries about and answers to ceremonial manners according to the corresponding rituals, and presented concrete criteria on which to settle confusing or incidental manners confronting people in the course of practicing various rituals. Third, the book includes manners of national funerals, many other minor rituals, and a supplementary appendix in addition to the four ceremonial manners. This reveals that Hangang extended the range of studying manners to village and national rituals beyond family ceremonies, established the frame of studying manners of the Joseon Dynasty, and at the same time, prepared a turning point for studying manners. Fourth, the book was compiled in the way of grouping similar categories, which shows that studying manners in the Yeongnam area was developed in the academic atmosphere of grouping similar contents, and dialectically analyzing and compromising them.