The story of real paper happened in what is now the People's Republic of China. Like the Egyptians, the Chinese had, nearly 5,000 years in the past, developed a pictographic type of writing. The Egyptians also had been making use of various kinds of objects to scribe upon, notably lengths of bamboo and woven silk and it is possible that the barkcloth they used for other uses derived out of the Paper. Mulberry was also used.
Historical documentation tells us that in 105 years after the birth of Christ a member of the government called Tsai Lung, invented papyrus, though it seems from archaeological digs that it was in fact being worked with in South East Asia for at least two centuries before him.
In times gone by setting down words was mainly on some derivative of bamboo or occasionally on strips of silk, which were then called ji. Nonetheless the cost of silk and bamboo being too weighty, these materials were not convenient. Then Tsai Lun came up with the idea of using tree bark, fish nets, hemp, and rags. In 105AD he delivered a report to the emperor regarding the production of paper and got many accolades for his ability. Since those distant days paper has been availed of universally and is known as the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
Whether this title is deserved or not, will probably never be uncovered! Nevertheless the most important consideration is that they found that they could pound some substances derived from plant matter into a mash, depose spume, put the mash in water, sieve it out onto fabric sheets and allow it to dry. After the drying process was complete, it consolidated into a hard, robust sheet that was extraordinarily light, and as long as it did not get damp or wet, proved exceedingly firm.
It's a fact that this very easy of papermaking technologies is even now in use in exactly the same way around Tibet and Nepal, the first regions to learn the techniques from China. A simple frame utilises a kind of cotton cloth stretched over a single side, thin mache is situated in to the other side and moved around until it is smooth. It is then left hanging that will let the liquid to drain and the grume to dry into a sheet of paper which can be stripped off.
By and by a very clever individual came to the conclusion that constructing a frame with ribbing and putting in place a fine bamboo mat that is removable over this, would allow the process to be accelerated to a great degree. Rather than using a single mold for each parchment sheet, therefore severely limiting the amount of sheets that may be produced at one time, a stack of sieved mush could be built up a layer at a time, with only a length of cotton thread between them in order to facilitate later separation. The stack would then be squeezed slightly, and every sheet of pulp moved to a place to dry.