The origins of true paper happened in China. Like the Egyptians, the Chinese had, nearly fifty centuries ago, developed a style of writing that used pictures. They too had been making use of several types of things to write on, most notably lengths of bamboo and silk woven into a fine fabric and it is possible that the barkcloth they were making for other purposes derived from the Paper. Mulberry was made use of as well.
Legend tells us that in 105AD a member of the government called Tsai Lung, brought out papyrus, although it appears from finds by archaeologists that it was in fact being worked with in South East Asia for probably two hundred years prior to Tsai Lung.
Way back during times gone by setting down words or pictograms was generally done on some derivative of bamboo or on strips of silk, which were known as Ji in those days. Nevertheless the soaring cost of silk and bamboo being too weighty, these materials were not convenient. Due to these factors Tsai Lun thought of utilizing the bark from trees, hemp, rags, and fish nets. In 105 years after the birth of Christ he made a report to the emperor regarding the process of making paper and got high accolade for his ability. From that time paper has been availed of every place and is known as the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
If indeed this title is correct, will likely not ever be known! Nonetheless the important consideration is that the discovery was made that they could pound some substances taken from plant material into a mash, extract impure substances, float the mash in liquid, sieve it out onto cloth sheets and give it time to dry out. After drying, it calcified into a hard, tenacious sheet that was astonishingly light, and as long as it was not allowed to get damp or wet, turned out to be surprisingly robust.
This most simple of papermaking techniques is even now still being used in exactly the same way within Tibet and Nepal, the initial areas to take the techniques from what is now the People's Republic of China. A basic frame utilizes a kind of cotton cloth stretched over a single side, diluted mache is poured in to the other end and moved around until it has reached a level. It is then suspended somewhere to enable the water to leave it and the grume to dry into a paper sheet which may be removed.
Eventually a talented developer came to realize that manufacturing a frame with ribbing and putting a fine bamboo mat that is removable across this, would let the paper-making process to be quickened incredibly. Instead of utilizing a single mould for each sheet of parchment, therefore severely limiting the amount of sheets that could be produced at the same time, a stack of sieved pulp could be built up a layer at a time, with just a length of cotton thread between them in order to enable later separation. The stack would then be squeezed gently, and every sheet of mush shifted to a dry board.