The history of genuine paper began in South East Asia. Like the people of Egypt, the Chinese had, nearly 5000 years in the past, developed a pictographic form of writing. They also had been using many different types of things to write upon, most notably strips of bamboo and processed silk and it is possible that the barkcloth they were making for other reasons from the Paper. Mulberry was made use of as well.
Legend tells us that in 105 years after the birth of Christ a government worker by the name of Tsai Lung, created usable paper, although it is clear from archaeological discoveries that it was actually being used in China for probably two hundred years before Tsai Lung.
In ancient times gone by setting down words was usually done on bamboo or on pieces of silk, which were called Ji in those days. Nonetheless the cost of silk and bamboo being weighty, these two materials were not convenient. Then Tsai Lun thought of utilizing the bark from trees, hemp, rags, and fish nets. In 105AD he made a report to the emperor regarding the process of paper making and was endowed with high accolade for his thoughts. Since those days paper has been used all over the world and is known as the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
If indeed this particular claim is correct, will likely never be uncovered! However, the main consideration has to be that the discovery was made that they could pound certain compounds derived from plants in to a mush, cut out impure materials, place the mush in liquid, filter it out onto cloth sheets giving it time to dry. After the drying process was complete, it calcified into a firm, tenacious sheet that was astonishingly light, and as long as it did not get damp, turned out to be very resilient.
It's a fact that this simple of paper making technologies is even now still being used in precisely the same way within Tibet and Nepal, the very first places to make use of the techniques from what is now the People's Republic of China. A basic frame has a cotton cloth made to stretch over a side, thin paste is emptied into the opposite end and moved around until it has reached an even state. After which it is suspended somewhere to let the water to leave it and the grume to dry in to a sheet of paper which may be taken off.
There came a time when a very talented individual realized that constructing a frame with an arrangement of ribbing and putting a fine replaceable bamboo mat over it, would allow the paper-making procedure to be speeded up incredibly. Rather than using one mould for every sheet of parchment, therefore severely restricting the amount of sheets that can be made at the same time, a stack of sieved mash was able to be built up a layer at a time, with merely a length of cotton thread between them which would enable later separation. The stack would then be pressed very lightly, and each sheet of pulp moved to a dry board.