The history of genuine paper happened in what is now the People's Republic of China. Like the indigenous people of Egypt, the Chinese had, almost 5,000 years in the past, invented a style of pictographic writing. They too had been making use of several types of objects to scribe on, most notably lengths of bamboo and processed silk and it is possible that the barkcloth they utilized for other uses from the Paper. Mulberry was also used.
Legend tells us that in 105 years after the birth of Christ a member of the government by the name of Tsai Lung, created papyrus, although it seems from archaeological digs that actually it was in existence in South East Asia for probably two centuries before Tsai Lung.
Back during olden times setting down words was usually done on some form of bamboo or occasionally on strips of silk, which were known as Ji in those days. Nevertheless the prohibitive cost of silk and bamboo being heavy, these two materials were not convenient. Then Tsai Lun came up with the idea of utilizing bark, rags, fish nets, and hemp. In 105AD he made a report to the emperor with regard to the production of paper and received much praise for his inventions. Consequently, from this time paper has been in use universally and is known as the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
If this particular claim is relevant, will probably never be known! Nonetheless what is important must be that the discovery was made that if they pounded certain compounds taken from plant material into a paste, oust unwanted substances, put the paste in water, screen it out onto cloth sheets giving it time to dry. When it dried, it conglomerated into a hard, durable sheet that was particularly light, and as long as it did not get damp or wet, turned out to be really dense.
This the easiest of papermaking technologies is still practised in exactly a similar way in and around Nepal and Tibet, the first areas to take the technolgies from China. A basic frame utilizes a kind of cotton cloth stretched over one side, thin mush is put in to the far side and spread about until it has reached an even state. Then it is left in order for it to let the liquid to drain out of it and the grume to dry into a sheet of paper which can be taken off.
Eventually a very talented individual came to realize that making a frame with ribs and putting a fine bamboo mat that is removable across this, would allow the paper-making process to be quickened to a much greater degree. Instead of utilizing a single mould for every paper sheet, consequently severely restricting the number of sheets that could be manufactured at the same time, a stack of sieved mache could be built up a layer at a time, with only a strip of cotton thread between them in order to enable later separation. The stack would then be pressed very gently, and each layer of mash transferred to a dry board.