Is Master Hongyang dead or not?

Not dead. According to tv cat's TV series Blood in the Sunset, Master Tao didn't play dead, but was robbed by bandits. Originally, the bandits were going to kill him, but they were afraid that they would not find Tao Jiabao if they killed Master Tao, so they finally put it back. Blood in the Sunset, with the sudden disappearance of a rich grandfather in the south of the Yangtze River as the introduction and the revenge of five aunts as the main line, tells the story of the whole family's intrigue and cruel and bloody struggle during the Republic of China.