In 1724, after the Yongzheng Emperor virtually banned Christianity over the Chinese Rites controversy, he was confined with his colleagues in Guangzhou and later banished to Macau, where he died.
His letters can be found in the Lettres édifiantes et curieuses de Chine series.
Among his contributions were translations from the Book of Documents (Du Halde, II, 298); eight odes of the Classic of Poetry (II, 308); and the first translation into a European language of a Chinese drama, "The Orphan of Zhao" (III, 341), titled L'Orphelin de la Maison de Tchao.
[4] Prémare's translation inspired Voltaire's 1753 tragedy L'Orphelin de la Chine.
[6] De Prémare's writings also include a defense of figurism proposed by Joachim Bouves of Christianity were mystically embodied in the Chinese classics.