How were goods purchased from the east without an abundance of gold and silver?

Goods were traded for products. That’s their way of exchanging goods without the use of gold or silver. Instead of paying money or gold or silver to get the goods that they need, they traded it with other products. It is somewhat the same with barter system in which people exchange goods and products to get what they want.

For example:

=> A sack rice is traded for a porcelain

=> The vegetables were traded in exchange of meat.