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This essay examines the nature of things in early Daoism via the lens of comparative philosophy. Daoism uses <i>ziran</i> 自然 (spontaneity) to express the nature of things. I explore the <i>ziran</i> or spontaneity of the myriad things through the analysis of <i>de</i> 德, <i>sheng</i> 生 (<i>xing</i> 性), and freedom (<i>ziyou</i> 自由). The sections on <i>de</i> 德 and <i>sheng</i> 生 reveal that the spontaneity of things is the ultimate reality, which contains the oneness of one and many, essence and appearance, change and changelessness. The section on freedom revolves around two essential questions in metaphysics: What are things? What is the relation between things and humans? Different from the motto of modern metaphysics, “humans prescribes laws to nature”, early Daoism believes that human existence belongs to the constant <i>ziran</i>. I call this “nature prescribes laws to humans”.