The history of proper paper started in South East Asia. Similar to the Egyptians, the Chinese had, almost 5000 years in the past, developed a pictographic form of writing. The Egyptians too had been utilizing several kinds of objects to scribe upon, most commonly strips of bamboo and silk woven into a fine fabric and it is possible that the barkcloth they were using for other purposes derived from the Paper. Mulberry was made use of too.
Historical documentation points to the fact that in 105AD a member of the government going by the name of Tsai Lung, invented usable paper, though it is clear from archaeological digs that it was in fact being used in what is now the People's Republic of China for at least two hundred years prior to Tsai Lung.
Way back in ancient times setting down words or pictograms was mainly done on some form of bamboo or occasionally on lengths of silk, which were known as Ji then. However, silk being expensive and bamboo being heavy, these materials were not of great use. Around then Tsai Lun thought of making use of bark from trees, fish nets, hemp, and rags. In 105 years after the birth of Christ he delivered a report to the emperor regarding the process of paper making and got high praise for his idea. From this time paper has been availed of all over the world and is called the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
If the above title is accurate or not, will very likely never be uncovered! Nevertheless the important consideration must be that they found that they could grind particular substances derived from plant material in to a mache, depose impure substances, float the mache in liquid, sieve it onto fabric sheets allowing it to dry. After drying, it congealed 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 extremely dense.
It's a fact that this very simple of papermaking techniques is even now practised in exactly a similar way in Nepal and Tibet, the initial countries to take the craft from China. A basic frame makes use of a cotton cloth pulled and held over a single side, thin grume is put into the other end and moved around until it is even. Then it is left hanging that will enable the water to drain and the pulp to dry in to a sheet of paper which will be able to be removed.
There came a time when a talented developer realized that constructing a frame with ribbing and putting a fine bamboo mat that is removable over it, would allow the paper-making procedure to be speeded up greatly. Instead of using a single mold for each sheet of parchment, therefore severely restricting the number of sheets that could be manufactured at one time, a stack of sieved paste was able to be built up a layer at a time, with merely a piece of cotton thread between them in order to enable later separation. The stack would then be pressed gently, and every layer of mush shifted to a dry place.