Ancestral home in Luoyang (now Luoyang City, Henan Province), born into a Confucian family, his father studied under Cheng Yi and had a deep understanding of the I Ching. Guo Yong was able to inherit his father's learning and was well-versed in worldly affairs. He lived in seclusion in Xiazhou (now Yichang, Hubei Province), wandering among the valleys of Changyang, and styled himself Baiyun Xiansheng. During the Qiandao era (1165-1173), he was recommended to the court by Zhang Xiaoxiang, the military governor of Hubei, but he declined the summons and was granted the title of Chonghui Hermit. Emperor Xiaozong, knowing his virtue, often praised him to his ministers and ordered the local prefectures to pay respects and inquire after him annually. Later, he was also granted the title of Yizheng Xiansheng. Guo was deeply fond of the works of Zhongjing and delved deeper into his studies. Feeling that the cold-damage disease theory was incomplete, he supplemented it with discussions from the Suwen, Nan Jing, Qianjin Fang, Waitai Miyao, and the theories of Zhu Gong, Pang Anshi, Chang Qizhi, and others. In 1181, he compiled the Cold-Damage Disease Supplement Theory in 20 volumes.