The `Abhisamayalamkara` is a `Mahayana` treatise which had far-reaching impact on Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. The present paper attempts at providing a preliminary conspectus discussing its composition, the meaning of its title，its author，nature, contents, thought，commentaries, and influence on Buddhism in India and Tibet. The author arrives at the following conclusions:
1. The `Abhisamayalamkara` is an outline commentary on the Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom. A comparison with the Vastusamgraha of the `Yogacarya- bhumi` reveals that it indeed possesses `matrka` characteristics and amounts to the `matrka` verses which summarize the essential meaning of the Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdon. Their relationship is like that between the `matrkas` of the Vastu-samgraha's Sutra-vastu and the `Samyuktagama`.
2. As to its thought，the `Abhisamayalamkara` mainly presents the `Madhayamika` concept of all dharmas being devoid of self-nature，but also incorporates the graduated practices of the `Yogacara`. With high probability，these are the beginnings of the "`Yogacara` Substantialist School of the Middle Way" of late Indian `Mahayana` Buddhism.
3. Since firstly，the `Abhisamayalamkara` characteristically resembles the `matrkas` of the Sutra-vastu，secondly，its main thought is `Madhyamika`，but the stages of practice are adopted from `Yogacara`，thirdly，some parts of the `Abhisamayalamkara` are very much akin to main `Yogacara` treatises like the `Mahayanasutralamkara` , `Mahayanasamgraha`，and Abhidharmasamuccaya, the present writer is of the opinion that the author of the `Abhisamayalamkara` was a great thinker with a comprehensive understanding of both `Madhyamika` and `Yogacara` teachings. It is, however，hard to decide upon whether he was a `Madhayamika` scholar with strong inclinations toward `Yogacara` practice or a Yoga master who was heavily influenced by `Nagarjuna's` teachings, or whether he really wrote under the prestigious name Maitreya.
