Abstract: As a “giant heat island” towering into the middle troposphere, the Tibetan Plateau produces thermal forcing that plays a pivotal role in the weather and climate of East Asia and the world. Therefore, the research on the influence of summer plateau heat sources on the downstream precipitation and its mechanism will help to deepen the understanding of the influence of the Tibetan Plateau on the downstream weather and climate, and improve the forecast level of the Tibetan Plateau and downstream precipitation. In view of the temporal and spatial distribution and evolution characteristics of heat sources on the Tibetan Plateau in summer, the influence of the plateau heat sources on downstream precipitation at different temporal and spatial scales, and the physical mechanism, the existing research progress is summarized, the main problems are pointed out, the future research directions of heat sources over the Tibetan Plateau on the downstream precipitation at the different spatial and temporal scales are indicated, and emphases as well as difficulties of further research are proposed.