隋唐時期是孟高棉語民族發展史上承前啟后的關鍵階段,中國西南地方政權南詔和中南半島古代國家真臘的興起及其特殊的政治關系和治策,在很大程度上改變了孟高棉語民族的分布態勢和演變趨勢。在不同勢力相互角逐博弈過程中,中國西南的孟高棉語民族進一步向邊地以及中南半島北部遷徙,增強了中南半島北部孟高棉語民族的力量,為新的民族融合創造了條件;高棉人逐漸完成對扶南人等孟高棉語民族的融合,其分布區不斷擴大,成為孟高棉語民族中最強大的勢力,今泰國境內的孟人在與高棉人交匯過程中開始衰落;高棉人、孟人和北方高棉語民族之間的交流不斷增加,今天的老撾成為各方孟高棉語民族交匯融合之區,對中國西南與中南半島民族史和民族關系史產生了廣泛而深遠的影響。

Sui and Tang dynasties in Chinese history were a decisive and transitional period in the development of the Mon-Khmer speaking peoples. The rise of local authority Nanzhao in Southwestern China and the ancient kingdom Chenla in Indochina Peninsula, as well as their special political relationship and governance, altered the distribution pattern and evolution trend of the Mon-Khmer speaking peoples to a large extent. In the process of rivalry and game by different forces, the Mon-Khmer speaking peoples of Southwestern China were forced to move further to the borderland of Nanzhao and northern part of the Indochina Peninsula, thus strengthening the Mon-Khmer speaking peoples in northern part of the Indochina Peninsula and creating conditions for new ethnic integration. The Khmer gradually integrated some Mon-Khmer speaking peoples such as the Funan, and its distribution areas expanded unceasingly, eventually developing into the most powerful branch in the Mon-Khmer family, while the Mon in today’s Thailand began to decline in the convergence course with Khmer people. Increasing communications and exchanges between Khmer, Mon and the northern Mon-Khmer family made the present day Laos an intersection and fusion area of the Mon-Khmer speaking peoples, which exerted an extensive and profound impact on the ethno-history and ethnic relations in Southwestern China and the Indochina Peninsula.