The history of proper paper began in South East Asia. Like the people of Egypt, the Chinese had, virtually five thousand years ago, brought out a kind of writing that used pictures. They also had been making use of various types of objects to scribe on, notably pieces of bamboo and processed silk and it is possible that the barkcloth they were making for other uses derived out of the Paper. Mulberry was made use of also.
Historical documentation leads us to believe that in 105 years after the birth of Christ a government worker named Tsai Lung, created paper, though it seems from finds by archaeologists that actually it was being used in what is now the People's Republic of China for more than likely two centuries before Tsai Lung.
Way back during times gone by writing was mainly done on some form of bamboo or sometimes on lengths of silk, which were then called ji. But silk was expensive and bamboo being heavy, these two materials were not of great use. Then Tsai Lun thought of utilizing bark, hemp, rags, and fish nets. In 105AD he put an idea to the emperor regarding the production of paper and received high accolade for his creativity. From that time paper has been in use all over and is known as the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
If this accolade is relevant or not, will likely never be known! Nevertheless the most important thing has to be that it was discovered that they could pound certain substances taken from plant matter into a paste, throw out impure substances, place the paste in liquid, filter it onto textile sheets and allow it to dry. After the drying process was complete, it consolidated into a hard, dense sheet that turned out to be very light, and providing it did not get wet, proved exceedingly durable.
It's a fact that this very easy of paper making technologies is still in use in exactly the same way in Nepal and Tibet, the very first countries to pick up the craft from China. A simple frame utilizes a cloth made from cotton stretched over one side, very watery mache is situated in to the other side and moved around until it has reached a level. After which it is suspended so that it will let the water to drain out of it and the pulp to dry into a sheet of parchment which will be able to be taken off.
There came a time when a developer with great skills realized that making a frame with an arrangement of ribbing and placing a delicate removable bamboo mat across it, would allow the process to be speeded up to a great degree. Instead of using a single mould for every sheet of paper, therefore severely limiting the number of sheets that are able to be made at the same time, a stack of sieved grume was able to be built up layer upon layer, with only a strip of cotton thread between them which would enable later separation. The stack would then be squeezed gently, and each sheet of mush moved to a place to dry.