The history of real paper began in what is now the People's Republic of China. Like the Egyptians, the Chinese had, nearly fifty centuries in the past, created a pictographic type of writing. The Egyptians too had been utilizing many different things to scribe on, most commonly strips of bamboo and silk woven into a fine fabric and it is possible that the barkcloth they utilized for other purposes derived from the Paper. Mulberry was used also.
Historical documentation leads us to believe that in 105AD an official going by the name of Tsai Lung, invented papyrus, although it is almost certain from finds by archaeologists that it was in fact being used in South East Asia for probably two hundred years prior to him.
Back in olden times setting down words was generally on some form of bamboo or on lengths of silk, which were known as Ji then. Nonetheless the soaring cost of silk and bamboo being heavy, these materials were not of great use. Around then Tsai Lun came up with the idea of using bark, fish nets, rags, and hemp. In 105 years after the birth of Christ he delivered a report to the emperor about the process of paper manufacture and was endowed with many accolades for his idea. Consequently, from those distant times paper has been in use in almost every place on earth and is called the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
If indeed this title is Marquis Tsai's entitlement, will probably not ever be known! Nevertheless the most important consideration is that it was discovered that if they pounded particular compounds derived from plant matter in to a grume, displace spume, place the grume in liquid, filter it onto cloth sheets allowing it to dry. When it dried, it caked into a firm, firm sheet that was exceedingly light, and provided that it was not allowed to get damp or wet, turned out to be remarkably dense.
This the easiest of papermaking techniques is even now still being used in precisely the same way in and around Tibet and Nepal, the very first areas to learn the technolgies from China. A simple frame utilises a cloth manufactured from cotton stretched over a single side, diluted pulp is situated into the opposite side and spread about until it has reached a level. It is then left hanging in order for it to allow the water to drain out of it and the paste to dry in to a sheet of paper which will be able to be taken off.
It eventually came to pass that a talented developer figured that building a frame with ribs and putting in place a fine bamboo mat that is removable across this, would let the process to be accelerated enormously. Instead of tying up a single mould for every parchment sheet, consequently severely limiting the amount of sheets that could be manufactured at one time, a stack of sieved mache could be built up a layer at a time, with only a piece of cotton thread between them to facilitate later separation. The stack would then be squeezed very slightly, and each layer of mash transferred to a dry place.