The history of genuine paper began in South East Asia. Similar to the people of Egypt, the Chinese had, nearly 5000 years ago, created a style of pictographic writing. The Egyptians also had been using various kinds of things to write upon, most commonly lengths of bamboo and woven silk and it is possible that the barkcloth they utilized for other uses derived out of the Paper. Mulberry was used as well.
Historical documentation points to the fact that in 105AD an official named Tsai Lung, invented paper, although it seems from finds by archaeologists that actually it was in existence in China for at least two centuries before him.
In ancient times setting down words or pictograms was generally on bamboo or on pieces of silk, which were known as Ji then. Nevertheless the soaring cost of silk and bamboo being too weighty, these materials were inconvenient. Around then Tsai Lun thought of making use of the bark from trees, hemp, fish nets, and rags. In 105 years after the birth of Christ he made a report to the emperor regarding the process of paper manufacture and got much praise for his idea. Consequently, since then paper has been used every place and is called the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
Whether the above historical tag is deserved or not, will very likely never be known! Nonetheless the important factor must be that it was discovered that they could pound certain compounds derived from plant material into a mush, expel impure substances, place the mush in water, sieve it onto cloth sheets giving it time to dry. After drying, it calcified into a hard, durable sheet that turned out to be decidedly light, and provided that it was not allowed to come into contact with water, turned out to be surprisingly resilient.
This the easiest of papermaking techniques is even now in use in precisely the same way within Nepal and Tibet, the first areas to take the techniques from what is now the People's Republic of China. A simple frame utilises a cotton cloth pulled and held over a single side, very watery mache is emptied in to the far end and spread about until it has reached an even state. It is then suspended so that it will let the liquid to leave it and the paste to dry in to a paper sheet which will be able to be removed by peeling.
As time passed an extremely talented developer came to realize that building a frame with ribs and placing a fine bamboo mat that is removable over it, would enable the paper-making process to be quickened to a great degree. Rather than utilizing a single mould for every sheet of parchment, consequently severely limiting the amount of sheets that can be made at the same time, a stack of sieved pulp could be built up layer upon layer, with just a strip of cotton thread between them which would help with later separation. The stack would then be squeezed lightly, and each sheet of mash transferred to a dry place.