The origins of real paper happened in what is now the People's Republic of China. Similar to the people of Egypt, the Chinese had, virtually 5000 years ago, created a kind of writing that used images. The Egyptians too had been utilizing various kinds of things to scribe on, notably pieces of bamboo and processed silk and possibly the barkcloth they were making for other unconnected purposes from the Paper. Mulberry was used as well.
Historical documentation tells us that in 105 years after the birth of Christ a member of the government called Tsai Lung, invented usable paper, though it appears from finds by archaeologists that in fact it was in existence in China for at least two centuries before him.
Back during ancient times gone by setting down words or pictograms was usually done on some form of bamboo or sometimes on lengths of silk, which were known as Ji in those days. Nevertheless silk was expensive and bamboo being weighty, these two materials were not convenient. Then Tsai Lun thought of making use of bark, rags, fish nets, and hemp. In 105AD he submitted a report to the emperor on the process of paper making and was endowed with many accolades for his ideas. From that period paper has been used globally and is known as the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
Whether this accolade is correct or not, will probably not ever be known! Nonetheless the main consideration must be that they found that if they pounded certain substances taken from plant matter in to a grume, expel unwanted materials, float the grume in water, filter it onto cloth sheets and allow it to dry. After drying, it compacted into a hard, resilient sheet that was extremely light, and providing it was not allowed to come into contact with water, turned out to be very dense.
It's a fact that this very straightforward of paper making techniques is still practised in exactly a similar way within Nepal and Tibet, the very first regions to learn the techniques from South East Asia. A basic frame utilises a cloth made from cotton pulled and held over a single side, watery paste is emptied into the far side and moved around until it has reached an even state. After which it is left hanging in order for it to allow the liquid to drain and the pulp to dry in to a sheet of parchment which can be removed by stripping off.
As time went by an extremely clever individual came to realize that making a frame with ribbing and putting a delicate bamboo mat that is replaceable across this, would enable the paper-making procedure to be quickened to a much greater degree. Instead of utilizing a single mold for each paper sheet, therefore severely restricting the number of sheets that could be produced at the same time, a stack of sieved mash could be built up a layer at a time, with merely a piece of cotton thread between them in order to facilitate separation at a later time. The stack would then be squeezed very lightly, and every sheet of mush moved to a dry board.