Paper is a matted or felted sheet of fibres formed on a screen from a water suspension.
Papermaking was invented in China in AD 105 by a court official named Cai Lun. He was thought to have used fibrous material from the bark of trees, hemp waste, old rags and fishing net. The raw materials were boiled and beaten into a mushy pulp to break the fibres apart. A screen was used to drain thin layers of fibres from the pulp. When pressed and dried, sheets of paper were formed.