The origins of true 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 ago, created a pictographic form of writing. The Egyptians too had been using many different things to write on, most notably strips of bamboo and woven silk and possibly the barkcloth they were making for other unconnected purposes derived out of the Paper. Mulberry was made use of also.
History leads us to believe that in 105AD a government worker by the name of Tsai Lung, invented paper, though it is almost certain from archaeological discoveries that it was actually being worked with in China for at least two centuries before Tsai Lung.
Back during ancient times gone by setting down words was generally on some form of bamboo or on pieces of silk, which were known as Ji in those days. Nonetheless the cost of silk and bamboo being very heavy, these materials were inconvenient. About this time Tsai Lun thought of making use of tree bark, rags, hemp, and fish nets. In 105 years after the birth of Christ he delivered a report to the emperor regarding the process of paper making and received high accolade for his ability. Since that time paper has been availed of globally and is called the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
If indeed this particular claim is deserved, will probably not ever be known! However, the important consideration must be that the discovery was made that they could pound certain substances derived from plants in to a mush, eliminate impure substances, float the mush in liquid, filter it out onto textile sheets allowing it to dry. When it dried, it calcified into a hard, firm sheet that turned out to be decidedly light, and providing it was not allowed to get damp, proved remarkably durable.
It's a fact that this very simple of paper making techniques is even now practised in precisely a similar way within Nepal and Tibet, the first areas to make use of the techniques from South East Asia. A simple frame utilizes a cotton cloth pulled and held over a single side, very watery grume is emptied into the opposite side and moved around until it has become even. It is then left hanging so that it will let the water to drain and the mash to dry in to a sheet of parchment which will be able to be stripped off.
At some point in time an extremely clever individual came to the conclusion that making a frame with ribs and putting a fine bamboo mat that is replaceable across it, would allow the process to be speeded up incredibly. Instead of using one mould for every sheet of paper, consequently severely restricting the number of sheets that can be manufactured at the same time, a stack of sieved pulp could be built up layer upon layer, with just a length of cotton thread between them which would facilitate later separation. The stack would then be pressed slightly, and each layer of paste transferred to a dry board.