The story of genuine 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 making use of many different kinds of things to scribe on, most usually lengths of bamboo and silk woven into a fine fabric and possibly the barkcloth they were making for other reasons derived out of the Paper. Mulberry was also used.
History points to the fact that in 105AD an official named Tsai Lung, created paper, although it appears from archaeological digs that in fact it was around in South East Asia for probably two centuries before him.
Way back in ancient times writing was generally on some form of bamboo or sometimes on strips of silk, which were known as Ji then. However, the prohibitive cost of silk and bamboo being very heavy, these materials were not convenient. Then Tsai Lun came up with the idea of utilizing the bark from trees, fish nets, hemp, and rags. In 105 years after the birth of Christ he submitted a report to the emperor regarding the process of making paper and was endowed with high praise for his inventions. From that time paper has been availed of every place and is called the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
If indeed this historical reference is Tsai's entitlement or not, will probably never be uncovered! Nonetheless the most important factor must be that they discovered that they could grind some compounds derived from plant material in to a mush, bstract impure substances, put the mush in liquid, screen it onto cloth sheets and allow it to dry. After drying, it compressed into a firm, durable sheet that turned out to be astonishingly light, and providing it did not get damp, turned out to be particularly robust.
This the easiest of papermaking technologies is even now in use in precisely a similar way in and around Tibet and Nepal, the very first countries to take the technolgies from what is now the People's Republic of China. A simple frame utilises a kind of cotton cloth pulled and held over one side, very watery pulp is poured into the other end and spread around until it is smooth. It is then left hanging in order for it to let the water to drain and the mash to dry in to a paper sheet which will be able to be removed by stripping off.
By and by a very clever individual came to the conclusion that making a frame with ribbing and putting a delicate removable bamboo mat across it, would allow the procedure to be quickened enormously. Instead of tying up one mould for each parchment sheet, consequently severely limiting the number of sheets that are able to be manufactured at the same time, a stack of sieved mache was able to be built up a layer at a time, with just a strip of cotton thread between them which would facilitate separation at a later time. The stack would then be squeezed very slightly, and every sheet of grume shifted to a dry board.