The origins of proper paper began in what is now the People's Republic of China. Similar to the indigenous people of Egypt, the Chinese had, nearly 5000 years in the past, developed a form of pictographic writing. They also had been utilizing several kinds of things to write upon, most usually pieces of bamboo and silk woven into a fine fabric and it is possible that the barkcloth they were using for other reasons from the Paper. Mulberry was made use of also.
Legend leads us to believe that in 105 years after the birth of Christ a member of the government by the name of Tsai Lung, created usable paper, though it is clear from archaeological digs that in fact it was being worked with in China for probably two hundred years before Tsai Lung.
Way back in ancient times scribing was usually done on some derivative of bamboo or occasionally on strips of silk, which were known as Ji then. Nonetheless the prohibitive cost of silk and bamboo being weighty, these two materials were not of great use. Due to these factors Tsai Lun thought of making use of bark, hemp, fish nets, and rags. In 105AD he put an idea to the emperor on the process of making paper and got high praise for his ideas. Consequently, from those distant days paper has been utilized universally and is called the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
If the above title is Marquis Tsai's entitlement or not, will probably not ever be known! However, the main consideration is that the discovery was made that if they pounded some substances derived from plant material into a pulp, purge impurities, place the pulp in water, sieve it onto textile sheets and give it time to dry out. After the drying process was complete, it compressed into a firm, dense sheet that turned out to be astonishingly light, and providing it was not allowed to get damp or wet, turned out to be really firm.
This the most simple of paper making techniques is even now in use in precisely the same way around Nepal and Tibet, the very first areas to make use of the craft from South East Asia. A basic frame utilises a cotton cloth made to stretch over a side, watery grume is poured in to the far side and spread about until it is smooth. It is then left hanging that will enable the liquid to drain and the mache to dry into a sheet of parchment which will be able to be removed by stripping off.
At some point in time an extremely talented developer worked out that constructing a frame with an arrangement of ribbing and putting a fine bamboo mat that is removable over it, would let the process to be quickened greatly. Rather than tying up a single mold for every paper sheet, therefore severely restricting the number of sheets that can be produced at one time, a stack of sieved mash could be built up layer upon layer, with just a piece of cotton thread between them which would enable later separation. The stack would then be pressed very slightly, and each layer of paste transferred to a dry place.