The origins of true paper started in what is now the People's Republic of China. Like the Egyptians, the Chinese had, nearly 50 centuries ago, created a style of writing that used images. They also had been using several kinds of things to write upon, usually strips of bamboo and processed silk and possibly the barkcloth they were making for other purposes derived from the Paper. Mulberry was also used.
Historical documentation leads us to believe that in 105 years after the birth of Christ a government worker going by the name of Tsai Lung, brought out papyrus, although it is almost certain from archaeological finds that in fact it was in existence in South East Asia for more than likely two hundred years prior to him.
In olden times scribing was mainly done on some derivative of bamboo or on lengths of silk, which were known as Ji then. But the prohibitive cost of silk and bamboo being very weighty, these materials were inconvenient. At this time Tsai Lun thought of making use of bark from trees, rags, hemp, and fish nets. In 105AD he delivered a report to the emperor about the process of making paper and received much praise for his abilities. Consequently, since that time paper has been availed of globally and is known as the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
If indeed this title is deserved, will very likely never be known! Nevertheless the important thing has to be that they found that if they ground some compounds derived from plants in to a paste, expel impurities, put the paste in liquid, filter it out onto textile sheets and allow it to dry. After drying, it calcified into a firm, tenacious sheet that turned out to be astonishingly light, and providing it did not get damp, proved exceedingly tough.
It's a fact that this simple of paper making technologies is still being used in precisely the same way in Tibet and Nepal, the first areas to take the craft from China. A simple frame utilises a type of cotton cloth stretched over a single side, diluted grume is emptied into the opposite end and moved around until it is even. Then it is left hanging that will enable the water to drain and the pulp to dry in to a sheet of parchment which may be stripped off.
It eventually came to pass that an extremely talented developer figured that building a frame with an arrangement of ribbing and putting a fine replaceable bamboo mat over this, would let the procedure to be accelerated incredibly. Instead of utilizing a single mould for each parchment sheet, therefore severely restricting the number of sheets that are able to be manufactured at one time, a stack of sieved mash was able to be built up a layer at a time, with just a length of cotton thread between them which would facilitate later separation. The stack would then be pressed very lightly, and every layer of mache shifted to a dry place.