Right down the end of Konbaung dynasty in AD 1885, Myanmar used to write on Pay ( ay ) with stylus ( unpf ) and on Parabike (yk&ykduf ) with soapstone (uHhulqH). On Pay the pagination goes by the dozen like u? um? ud?uD? uk? ul? au? uJ? aum? aumf?uH?um;? ka.ka. ki. ki. ku. ku.ke. kai. ko. koau. kam. kah. After ka series ( u 0uf ), the pagination continues with kha (c) series (c 0uf) and so on.  One leaf of Pay( ay&Guf ) has two sides, vis obverse (0rf; belly) and reverse (ausm back ). In Parabike mention recto (right-hand page) or verso (left-hand page).

A black paper book ( Parabike) is actually a very long sheet of paper in according folds. One fold is Hlwar Gyin (vTmcsif;) or Tayayzi ( wa&pD;).Yayzi (a&pD;) is the Myanmar term for a fold of a Parabike and come from Myanmar word for a water current ( or wavelet).Three to five folds is Hlwar Htat lay (vTmxyfav;), six to eleven folds is Hlwar Htat Gyi (vTmxyfBuD;), twelve to sixteen foldd is Su Wet (ql0uf), thirty two folds is Parabike Tasu (yk&ykdufwql)and sixty four folds is Su Dat(qlxyf).  

As they could be used repeatedly, and documents could easily be rewritten, Parabike were widely used to record both official and private documents up to the end of 19th century, when western paper was ordinarily adopted in Myanmar. As black Parabike was utilized as a notebook or for writing drafts, a single Parabike often contains various different kinds of documents, such as those relating to central or local administration, regulations, official or private judicial matters, money lending, contracts, inheritance, religious affairs, pharmaceutical and medical practice, poetry and other literature, astrology, and so on. The documents found in them cover a range of concerns, from government affairs to the social life of ordinary people from the end of the 18th to the middle of the 19th century.

Parabike are scattered all over the country of Myanmar. The condition of their preservation is poor, as they are exposed to insects, fire, flood, and high humidity. Cases in which locally preserved Parabike have already been lost by the time researchers arrive to study them are too numerous to mention. Many valuable documents recorded on Parabike are vanishing at every moment.

Furthermore, when Parabike are used as historical source materials, their pages have to be turned by hand by every researcher in order to find the desired documents. Inevitably, the characters on the Parabike will gradually fade, and their folds become fatigued and damaged. This is one of the biggest problems in the preservation of Parabike.