The history of genuine paper started in South East Asia. Like the Egyptians, the Chinese had, nearly five thousand years ago, brought out a kind of writing that used images. The Egyptians too had been utilizing various types of things to scribe on, notably strips of bamboo and woven silk and possibly the barkcloth they used for other unconnected purposes from the Paper. Mulberry was also used.
Legend leads us to believe that in 105 years after the birth of Christ a government worker called Tsai Lung, created usable paper, although it is clear from archaeological digs that actually it was in existence in China for probably two hundred years prior to him.
Way back during times gone by writing was mainly done on bamboo or occasionally on pieces of silk, which were called Ji in those days. Nevertheless the cost of silk and bamboo being heavy, these materials were not of great use. At this time Tsai Lun came up with the idea of making use of the bark from trees, fish nets, rags, and hemp. In 105AD he delivered a report to the emperor regarding the process of paper making and got high accolade for his ideas. From those distant times paper has been availed of every place and is known as the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
If indeed the above historical tag is correct or not, will probably never be uncovered! However, the important factor must be that it was discovered that they could pound particular substances taken from plant material in to a mash, discard impurities, put the mash in liquid, sieve it out onto fabric sheets giving it time to dry. When it dried, it caked into a hard, tenacious sheet that turned out to be extraordinarily light, and as long as it was not allowed to get damp, turned out to be incredibly resilient.
It's a fact that this very straightforward of papermaking techniques is still in use in exactly the same way around Tibet and Nepal, the first countries to learn the craft from what is now the People's Republic of China. A basic frame has a cloth made from cotton made to stretch over a side, thin mush is situated into the opposite side and spread around until it is even. Then it is left that will allow the water to leave it and the grume to dry in to a parchment sheet which will be able to be taken off.
At some point in time a very talented individual came to the conclusion that manufacturing a frame with ribs and putting a delicate bamboo mat that is removable across this, would enable the process to be accelerated fantastically. Rather than tying up a single mould for each sheet of paper, therefore severely limiting the number of sheets that could be produced at the same time, a stack of sieved pulp could be built up layer upon layer, with just a length of cotton thread between them to facilitate later separation. The stack would then be pressed gently, and every layer of paste shifted to a board to dry.