Guo Jie was short of stature, strong and tough. He did not like drinking which most sia did. He was passionless and cruel from his youth and would stab someone for merely being irritated. His "achievements" included hosting run away prisoners, robbing tombs, forging currencies, ambushing and holding up passersby. After he became "famous", he started looking after his behavior, but he never changed his temper. He was very generous to his friends; he would make many sacrifices including risking his own life to help his friends without asking for any reward.

      He was also very just, which won him a good reputation. A nephew of his was killed in a riot following drinking, because his nephew used his name to force others to drink and was refused. Guo Jie's wife was the dead man's aunt. She was angry with Guo because he refused to avenge him, so she left the corpse on the street to embarrass Guo Jie. When Guo learned the details of the whole event, he believed that it was his nephew's wrong doing, so he decided not to do anything. After this event, many people would turn to him to solve conflicts, and he was highly praised among the public.

      Although he once had a lot of money from the various things he had done, he gave it to the poor. So when the Emperor Wudi (157-87 BC) of the Han Dynasty commanded the rich people to move to the capital area, he had an excuse not to move. Furthermore the Grand General Wei Cing also spoke for him. However the emperor insisted that Guo Jie move, because he noticed that Guo was so important that even General Wei Cing was on his side.

      There were more things showing that Guo Jie was truly influential. Yang Jijhu, the official of Guo's hometown, and his family were murdered because Yang accused Guo of committing crimes. The official who sent this accusation to the capital was also killed. A man was attacked and his tongue was cut off, because he criticized Guo Jie. Then Guo Jie was arrested. Guo refused to confess, and he was almost released because he was not involved in the crimes. But a ranking official Gongsun Hong said that Guo had to be killed because he caused troubles.

      "Plain Clothed" in Chinese is buyi meaning "the ordinary people". They were closer to the commoners rather than to the government officials. They usually fought against the court and the law, which did not protect them, so the government wanted to arrest them, and their lives usually ended miserably.