当年石涛写下“笔墨当随时代”,因碰巧契合了一个源自西方“现代”、并已在今天国人心中根深蒂固的文化观念,长期以来俨然是一个不容置疑、无可争辩的真理。今天中国人身上的那种敏锐的“时代”感（或“时间”意识）是极为奇特的,甚至到了荒诞的地步,因为人们已习惯于将“时代”绝对化,把一切都归结为“时代”在前进,做一切都是为了“时代”要求。 这种单以“时代”一个要素评判文化艺术的观念,追根究源是来自西方“现代性”文化的一个根本观念——“进步论”。“进步论”是一种西元18世纪西方启蒙运动才慢慢形成的一种观念,距今不过两三百年。这种观念认为,随科学和技术的发展,全人类将普遍经历一种社会和文化的进步（进化）,达于一种人类大同 Shitao wrote “Ink and Wash with the Times” that year, because it coincided with a cultural concept rooted in the “modern” West and already deeply rooted in the minds of today’s people. It has long been an indisputable and indisputable truth. The keen “sense of the times” (or “time” awareness) of the Chinese today is extremely peculiar and even absurd as people have become accustomed to absoluteizing the “age” and attributing everything to “ The times are moving forward, doing everything for the requirements of the times. This kind of idea of ​​judging culture and art from an element of ”time“ alone is a fundamental concept from the ”modernity“ culture in the West - ”progress theory.“ ”Progress Theory" is a kind of concept gradually formed by Western Enlightenment in the 18th century, but only two or three hundred years ago. This notion holds that with the development of science and technology, all mankind will generally experience a kind of social and cultural progress (evolution), reaching a common ground for humanity