The history of proper paper began in what is now the People's Republic of China. Like the indigenous people of Egypt, the Chinese had, virtually five thousand years in the past, created a style of pictographic writing. The Egyptians too had been using several types of things to scribe on, most usually strips of bamboo and processed silk and it is possible that the barkcloth they were using for other reasons derived out of the Paper. Mulberry was used also.
Legend tells us that in 105 years after the birth of Christ an official by the name of Tsai Lung, developed papyrus, although it appears from archaeological discoveries that it was actually being used in China for probably two centuries prior to him.
During times gone by scribing was usually done on bamboo or occasionally on lengths of silk, which were then called ji. Nonetheless the cost of silk and bamboo being too heavy, these materials were not of great use. Then Tsai Lun thought of making use of bark, hemp, rags, and fish nets. In 105AD he submitted a report to the emperor with regard to the process of paper making and got high accolade for his abilities. Since those distant days paper has been in use all over and is called the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
If the above historical tag is correct or not, will very likely never be known! However, the most important thing must be that it was found that they could grind certain compounds taken from plant material into a mash, expel spume, put the mash in liquid, filter it out onto fabric sheets giving it enough time to dry out. After the drying process was complete, it calcified into a firm, firm sheet that turned out to be particularly light, and providing it was not allowed to get wet, turned out to be really dense.
This simplest of paper making technologies is even now in use in precisely a similar way in and around Tibet and Nepal, the initial regions to pick up the craft from South East Asia. A simple frame utilises a cloth made from cotton stretched over one side, diluted paste is situated in to the far end and moved around until it has become even. After which it is suspended in order for it to enable the water to drain and the grume to dry into a sheet of paper which will be able to be peeled off.
As time passed a very clever individual realized that manufacturing a frame with an arrangement of ribbing and placing a delicate replaceable bamboo mat across this, would let the procedure to be quickened enormously. Rather than utilizing a single mould for each sheet of parchment, consequently severely limiting the number of sheets that could be made at one time, a stack of sieved mache was able to be built up a layer at a time, with just a length of cotton thread between them in order to facilitate separation at a later time. The stack would then be pressed very slightly, and every layer of pulp moved to a board to dry.