The history of genuine paper began in what is now the People's Republic of China. Similar to the people of Egypt, the Chinese had, nearly 5000 years in the past, invented a type of writing that used pictures. They too had been using various kinds of objects to write on, usually strips of bamboo and processed silk and it is possible that the barkcloth they used for other unconnected purposes derived out of the Paper. Mulberry was used also.
Historical documentation tells us that in 105AD an official by the name of Tsai Lung, developed usable paper, though it seems from archaeological digs that actually it was around in South East Asia for probably two hundred years prior to him.
Back in ancient times gone by scribing was generally done on bamboo or on lengths of silk, which were then called ji. But silk being expensive and bamboo being very weighty, these two materials were inconvenient. About this time Tsai Lun came up with the idea of utilizing tree bark, fish nets, rags, and hemp. In 105 years after the birth of Christ he submitted a report to the emperor on the process of making paper and got high praise for his ability. Consequently, from this time paper has been used all over the world and is called the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
If indeed this title is Tsai's entitlement, will probably not ever be known! Nevertheless the important consideration must be that the discovery was made that they could pound certain compounds taken from plants into a mash, throw out spume, put the mash in liquid, filter it out onto cloth sheets giving it time to dry. When it dried, it dried into a hard, tough sheet that was particularly light, and provided that it did not get damp, turned out to be extremely firm.
It's a fact that this very straightforward of paper making techniques is still practised in precisely the same way within Tibet and Nepal, the first areas to pick up the techniques from China. A simple frame has a cotton cloth stretched over one side, diluted pulp is poured in to the other end and moved around until it is smooth. Then it is left somewhere to allow the water to leave it and the mush to dry into a paper sheet which may be peeled off.
At some stage a clever developer figured that making a frame with an arrangement of ribbing and putting in place a fine removable bamboo mat across this, would enable the procedure to be quickened greatly. Instead of utilizing a single mould for each sheet of paper, severely restricting the amount of sheets that are able to be made at the same time, a stack of sieved mache could be built up a layer at a time, with only a length of cotton thread between them which would help with later separation. The stack would then be pressed very slightly, and every layer of paste shifted to a dry place.