The story of real paper happened in China. Like the people of Egypt, the Chinese had, almost five thousand years in the past, invented a type of pictographic writing. They too had been utilizing several kinds of objects to write upon, usually lengths of bamboo and woven silk and it is possible that the barkcloth they were making for other uses derived from the Paper. Mulberry was ased too.
Historical documentation leads us to believe that in 105AD a government worker by the name of Tsai Lung, developed paper, although it appears from archaeological digs that it was actually in existence in South East Asia for at least two hundred years prior to him.
Way back during olden times setting down words was generally on bamboo or on pieces of silk, which were known as Ji then. But the prohibitive cost of silk and bamboo being heavy, these two materials were not of great use. Around then Tsai Lun thought of using the bark from trees, fish nets, rags, and hemp. In 105 years after the birth of Christ he submitted a report to the emperor on the process of making paper and was endowed with high accolade for his idea. Since those distant days paper has been utilized everywhere and is called the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
Whether the above historical tag is deserved or not, will probably never be uncovered! Nonetheless the most important thing is that the discovery was made that they could grind some plant-derived substances in to a grume, extract spume, put the grume in liquid, screen it onto fabric sheets and give it time to dry out. After drying, it compressed into a firm, durable sheet that was surprisingly light, and provided that it did not get damp or wet, proved remarkably tenacious.
This most straightforward of paper making techniques is even now in use in precisely the same way in and around Tibet and Nepal, the very first places to pick up the techniques from what is now the People's Republic of China. A simple frame utilizes a kind of cotton cloth pulled and held over one side, thin mash is emptied into the other end and spread about until it has become even. After which it is left suspended in order for it to enable the water to leave it and the mush to dry into a paper sheet which can be removed by peeling.
Eventually an extremely clever individual figured that manufacturing a frame with ribbing and placing a delicate replaceable bamboo mat over this, would allow the process to be speeded up enormously. Rather than utilizing a single mold for every sheet of parchment, severely restricting the amount of sheets that could be produced at the same time, a stack of sieved paste was able to be built up a layer at a time, with merely a strip of cotton thread between them to enable separation at a later time. The stack would then be pressed slightly, and each sheet of mache moved to a dry place.