The history of true paper happened in what is now the People's Republic of China. Similar to the indigenous people of Egypt, the Chinese had, virtually five thousand years ago, brought out a kind of writing that used pictures. They also had been making use of various kinds of objects to write upon, most usually lengths of bamboo and woven silk and it is possible that the barkcloth they were using for other uses derived from the Paper. Mulberry was also used.
Historical documentation tells us that in 105AD a member of the government called Tsai Lung, developed papyrus, although it is clear from archaeological digs that in fact it was being used in South East Asia for at least two hundred years prior to him.
During ancient times scribing was usually on some derivative of bamboo or occasionally on pieces of silk, which were called Ji in those days. Nonetheless the prohibitive cost of silk and bamboo being heavy, these two materials were inconvenient. About this time Tsai Lun came up with the idea of utilizing tree bark, fish nets, rags, and hemp. In 105 years after the birth of Christ he delivered a report to the emperor regarding the production of paper and received much praise for his idea. Consequently, from those distant days paper has been used everywhere and is known as the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
If this title is relevant or not, will probably never be uncovered! Nevertheless the major factor has to be that it was found that if they ground certain substances taken from plants in to a mache, shed unwanted materials, put the mache in liquid, screen it onto fabric sheets giving it time to dry. After the drying process was complete, it caked into a firm, resilient sheet that turned out to be decidedly light, and as long as it was not allowed to get wet, turned out to be remarkably firm.
This the most simple of paper making techniques is still practised in exactly a similar way in Tibet and Nepal, the first places to pick up the craft from China. A simple frame has a kind of cotton cloth made to stretch over a side, very watery grume is poured into the far side and spread about until it has become even. Then it is left hanging in order for it to allow the water to drain and the mash to dry in to a parchment sheet which may be stripped off.
At some point in time a developer with great skills came to the conclusion that making a frame with an arrangement of ribbing and putting in place a fine bamboo mat that is removable over it, would let the paper-making process to be accelerated to a great degree. Rather than tying up one mould for every paper sheet, consequently severely restricting the amount of sheets that could be made at one time, a stack of sieved paste could be built up layer upon layer, with just a length of cotton thread between them to enable separation at a later time. The stack would then be pressed very lightly, and each layer of mush transferred to a place to dry.