The story of real paper began in China. Like the indigenous people of Egypt, the Chinese had, nearly 5,000 years ago, invented a pictographic form of writing. They too had been utilizing many different kinds of objects to scribe upon, most notably lengths of bamboo and processed silk and possibly the barkcloth they were using for other unconnected purposes derived from the Paper. Mulberry was made use of also.
Legend points to the fact that in 105AD a member of the government going by the name of Tsai Lung, brought out papyrus, although it is almost certain from finds by archaeologists that it was actually being worked with in what is now the People's Republic of China for probably two centuries before him.
Way back during olden times setting down words was mainly done on bamboo or occasionally on strips of silk, which were called Ji in those days. However, the great price of silk and bamboo being very weighty, these two materials were inconvenient. Due to this Tsai Lun thought of using bark from trees, fish nets, hemp, and rags. In 105 years after the birth of Christ he submitted a report to the emperor regarding the production of paper and was endowed with high accolade for his abilities. Consequently, since then paper has been used universally and is known as the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
If indeed this historical reference is deserved, will probably never be uncovered! Nevertheless the important thing has to be that the discovery was made that they could grind some substances derived from plant material into a mush, abolish impurities, place the mush in liquid, filter it onto cloth sheets giving it time to dry. After drying, it consolidated into a firm, tenacious sheet that turned out to be decidedly light, and providing it was not allowed to come into contact with water, turned out to be very firm.
It's a fact that this very easy of papermaking techniques is even now in use in precisely a similar way within Nepal and Tibet, the very first areas to make use of the craft from South East Asia. A basic frame makes use of a cloth made from cotton stretched over one side, diluted mache is poured in to the opposite side and moved around until it has reached an even state. After which it is left hanging that will let the water to drain and the paste to dry in to a sheet of parchment which may be removed by peeling.
At some stage a very clever individual worked out that manufacturing a frame with an arrangement of ribbing and putting in place a fine bamboo mat that is removable across it, would enable the paper-making procedure to be accelerated enormously. Instead of utilizing one mold for each sheet of paper, consequently severely limiting the number of sheets that are able to be manufactured at one time, a stack of sieved pulp was able to be built up layer upon layer, with only a length of cotton thread between them in order to facilitate separation at a later time. The stack would then be squeezed gently, and every sheet of mash shifted to a dry board.