The origins of genuine paper happened in China. Similar to the Egyptians, the Chinese had, almost fifty centuries ago, brought out a pictographic form of writing. They also had been utilizing several kinds of objects to scribe upon, most notably lengths of bamboo and woven silk and possibly the barkcloth they used for other purposes derived out of the Paper. Mulberry was made use of too.
Legend points to the fact that in 105 years after the birth of Christ a government worker named Tsai Lung, developed usable paper, though it is clear from archaeological digs that in fact it was being used in what is now the People's Republic of China for at least two hundred years prior to him.
During olden times scribing was usually done on some form of bamboo or occasionally on pieces of silk, which were known as Ji in those days. However, the soaring cost of silk and bamboo being weighty, these materials were not of great use. About this time Tsai Lun thought of making use of bark from trees, rags, hemp, and fish nets. In 105AD he put an idea to the emperor regarding the production of paper and was endowed with high accolade for his ideas. Consequently, from those distant times paper has been in use all over and is known as the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
If indeed the above title is correct or not, will very likely never be uncovered! But the main factor is that it was found that if they pounded some plant-derived substances into a mache, take out spume, place the mache in water, screen it out onto cloth sheets giving it enough time to dry out. After drying, it consolidated into a firm, robust sheet that was remarkably light, and as long as it did not get wet, proved particularly firm.
It's a fact that this most simple of papermaking techniques is still in use in exactly the same way in and around Tibet and Nepal, the initial regions to take the technolgies from South East Asia. A basic frame utilizes a cloth manufactured from cotton pulled and held over a single side, thin pulp is emptied in to the opposite side and moved around until it is smooth. Then it is suspended that will enable the liquid to drain out of it and the grume to dry in to a parchment sheet which can be peeled off.
At some stage a clever developer came to the conclusion that building a frame with an arrangement of ribbing and placing a delicate bamboo mat that is removable across this, would allow the paper-making procedure to be quickened incredibly. Rather than using one mould for each sheet of parchment, therefore severely limiting the number of sheets that can be produced at the same time, a stack of sieved mash could be built up a layer at a time, with only a piece of cotton thread between them in order to enable separation at a later time. The stack would then be squeezed gently, and every layer of paste transferred to a board to dry.