The origins of proper paper started in China. Similar to the people of Egypt, the Chinese had, virtually 50 centuries ago, brought out a pictographic form of writing. They also had been utilizing many different types of objects to scribe upon, usually pieces of bamboo and silk woven into a fine fabric and possibly the barkcloth they utilized for other unconnected purposes derived out of the Paper. Mulberry was made use of too.
Legend points to the fact that in 105AD a government worker by the name of Tsai Lung, created usable paper, though it appears from archaeological discoveries that it was actually in existence in South East Asia for at least two hundred years before him.
Way back in ancient times setting down words was usually on some form of bamboo or occasionally on lengths of silk, which were then called ji. But silk being expensive and bamboo being too weighty, these materials were not of great use. Due to this Tsai Lun came up with the idea of making use of bark from trees, fish nets, rags, and hemp. In 105 years after the birth of Christ he delivered a report to the emperor about the process of paper making and was endowed with much praise for his abilities. Consequently, since then paper has been utilized all over the world and is called the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
Whether this particular claim is relevant or not, will very likely never be known! However, what is important is that it was found that they could pound particular plant-derived compounds into a mush, take out impure materials, place the mush in water, filter it out onto textile sheets giving it time to dry. When it dried, it compacted into a firm, firm sheet that was particularly light, and as long as it did not get damp, proved exceedingly robust.
It's a fact that this most simple of paper making techniques is still being used in exactly the same way around Tibet and Nepal, the first regions to learn the craft from what is now the People's Republic of China. A basic frame has a kind of cotton cloth pulled and held over one side, very watery pulp is emptied in to the opposite side and moved around until it is even. It is then left suspended somewhere to enable the liquid to drain and the mache to dry in to a sheet of paper which can be stripped off.
As time went by a very clever individual realized that constructing a frame with ribs and putting a fine bamboo mat that is removable across this, would allow the paper-making process to be quickened greatly. Instead of using a single mold for each parchment sheet, consequently severely restricting the number of sheets that are able to be produced at the same time, a stack of sieved grume was able to be built up a layer at a time, with merely a piece of cotton thread between them to facilitate later separation. The stack would then be squeezed very gently, and every sheet of mash shifted to a board to dry.