The origins of real paper began in China. Like the Egyptians, the Chinese had, nearly 50 centuries ago, created a pictographic form of writing. They also had been making use of various things to write on, most notably lengths of bamboo and woven silk and it is possible that the barkcloth they used for other uses derived out of the Paper. Mulberry was ased too.
Legend leads us to believe that in 105AD an official going by the name of Tsai Lung, invented paper, although it is clear from archaeological finds that actually it was being worked with in South East Asia for at least two centuries before Tsai Lung.
Back during ancient times gone by writing was generally done on bamboo or on strips of silk, which were known as Ji then. Nevertheless the soaring cost of silk and bamboo being too heavy, these materials were not of great use. About this time Tsai Lun thought of using tree bark, rags, fish nets, and hemp. In 105 years after the birth of Christ he delivered a report to the emperor with regard to the process of paper manufacture and received high praise for his inventions. From that period paper has been availed of universally and is called the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
If the above title is Tsai's entitlement or not, will very likely not ever be known! Nonetheless the important factor has to be that they found that if they pounded some compounds derived from plant material into a grume, depose impurities, float the grume in water, screen it out onto cloth sheets giving it time to dry. When it dried, it dried into a firm, dense sheet that was extraordinarily light, and as long as it was not allowed to get wet, proved surprisingly tough.
It's a fact that this very simple of papermaking techniques is still practised in precisely the same way in Nepal and Tibet, the first regions to pick up the techniques from what is now the People's Republic of China. A basic frame utilises a kind of cotton cloth stretched over one side, thin mache is situated in to the far side and moved around until it is even. After which it is left suspended that will allow the liquid to leave it and the pulp to dry in to a sheet of paper which will be able to be removed by peeling.
As time passed an extremely talented individual figured that making a frame with ribbing and placing a fine replaceable bamboo mat over it, would enable the paper-making process to be quickened to a much greater degree. Instead of tying up one mould for every parchment sheet, therefore severely limiting the number of sheets that can be manufactured at one time, a stack of sieved mash could be built up layer upon layer, with merely a strip of cotton thread between them to help with later separation. The stack would then be pressed lightly, and each layer of mush moved to a dry place.