The history of genuine paper began in South East Asia. Similar to the indigenous people of Egypt, the Chinese had, almost fifty centuries in the past, brought out a kind of writing that used images. The Egyptians also had been making use of many different types of objects to scribe on, most usually lengths of bamboo and woven silk and it is possible that the barkcloth they made for other unconnected purposes derived out of the Paper. Mulberry was used also.
Historical documentation tells us that in 105AD an official named Tsai Lung, invented usable paper, although it is almost certain from archaeological finds that actually it was in existence in what is now the People's Republic of China for at least two centuries prior to him.
In ancient times setting down words was usually done on bamboo or on strips of silk, which were known as Ji then. However, silk was expensive and bamboo being weighty, these materials were not convenient. Due to these factors Tsai Lun came up with the idea of using bark from trees, hemp, rags, and fish nets. In 105 years after the birth of Christ he delivered a report to the emperor with regard to the production of paper and received high accolade for his ability. Consequently, from this time paper has been in use universally and is known as the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
Whether this particular claim is Tsai's entitlement, will probably not ever be known! But what is important is that they found that they could pound certain compounds derived from plant matter in to a grume, expel unwanted materials, place the grume in liquid, sieve it onto fabric sheets giving it enough time to dry out. After drying, it calcified into a hard, durable sheet that turned out to be extremely light, and provided that it did not get damp, proved remarkably robust.
It's a fact that this simple of paper making technologies is still being used in exactly the same way within Nepal and Tibet, the first places to make use of the craft from China. A simple frame utilizes a kind of cotton cloth pulled and held over one side, diluted mush is poured into the other side and spread around until it is smooth. It is then left hanging somewhere to let the water to drain and the pulp to dry into a sheet of paper which can be removed.
As time went by a very talented individual realized that building a frame with an arrangement of ribbing and putting in place a fine removable bamboo mat over it, would enable the process to be accelerated greatly. Instead of tying up a single mould for each parchment sheet, therefore severely restricting the number of sheets that are able to be produced at the same time, a stack of sieved paste was able to be built up layer upon layer, with only a piece of cotton thread between them to facilitate later separation. The stack would then be squeezed very gently, and every layer of mash shifted to a dry place.