50 Years Old in Chinese / Japanese...

一日千秋 is a Japanese and Chinese proverb about missing someone.

一日千秋 is often used to express how hard it is to wait for someone's return or to be away from someone.

Some will translate this as “one day feels like a very long time” or “waiting for someone (something) is hard.”

You might see this romanized as a single word, Ichijitsusenshuu, or as “Ichijitsu Senshuu” from Japanese.
If you break down the characters one-by-one, we get:
一 = one/a
日 = day/sun (can also represent time or date)
千 = 1000/thousand
秋 = autumn/fall

Together, 千秋 can mean “autumn comes thousand times” (or 1000 years). It can also be read as 1000 periods of time.
However, it relays the idea of heartache as you wait for someone you miss.

百年好合 is a wish or greeting, often heard at Chinese weddings, for a couple to have 100 good years together.

Some will translate this more naturally into English as: “May you live a long and happy life together.”

The character breakdown:
百 = 100
年 = Years
好 = Good (Happy)
合 = Together

五十步笑百步 is a Chinese proverb that means the one who retreats 50 paces mocks the one who retreats 100 paces.

During the Warring States Period of what is now China (475 - 221 B.C.), the King of Wei was in love with war. He often fought with other kingdoms just for spite or fun.

One day, the King of Wei asked the philosopher Mencius, “I love my people, and all say I do the best for them. I move the people from famine-stricken areas to places of plenty and transport grains from rich areas to the poor. Nobody goes hungry in my kingdom, and I treat my people far better than other kings. But why does the population of my kingdom not increase, and why does the population of other kingdoms not decrease?”

Mencius answered, “Since you love war, I will make this example: When going to war, and the drums beat to start the attack, some soldiers flee for their lives in fear. Some run 100 paces in retreat, and others run 50 steps. Then the ones who retreated 50 paces laugh and taunt those who retreated 100 paces, calling them cowards mortally afraid of death. Do you think this is reasonable?

The King of Wei answered, “Of course not! Those who run 50 paces are just as timid as those who run 100 paces.”

Mencius then said, “You are a king who treats his subjects better than other kings treat their people, but you are so fond of war that your people suffer from great losses in battle. Therefore, your population does not grow. While other kings allow their people to starve to death, you send your people to die in war. Is there any difference?”

This famous conversation led to the six-character proverb shown here. It serves as a warning to avoid hypocrisy. It goes hand-in-hand with the western phrase, “The pot calls the kettle black,” or the Biblical phrase, “Before trying to remove a splinter from your neighbor's eye, first remove the plank from your own eye.”

偕老 is a Chinese, Japanese, and Korean word that means to grow/growing old together.

This will be a nice wall scroll to hang in your home if your plan is to grow old with your mate.

執子之手, 與子偕老 is a sweet Chinese phrase that means “Hold hands with you, grow old with you.”

面壁九年 is a Buddhist term that means “facing a wall for nine years.”

This refers to the Bodhidharma who stared at a wall in meditation at the Shaolin Temple (or in a cave) for nine years until reaching full enlightenment.

古道 is the Japanese word meaning “The Old Way.” The first character means old or ancient. The second character means “the way” and is the same character as used in Taoism / Daoism (Taoism literally means “the way”).

This second character can also be translated as “method,” as in a way of doing things.

古道 is sometimes Romanized as “Kodo,” though officially, the Romaji should be “Kodou.”

My Japanese-English dictionary further translates this word as the old road, ancient methods, ancient moral teachings, and the way of learning.

Note that this would be understood differently in Chinese. Most Chinese people would just read this as “The old road” without the other meanings derived in Japanese.

老當益壯 is a Chinese proverb that means “old but vigorous” or “hale and hearty despite the years.”

Said of someone who is more spirited when he/she grows older.

The story behind this Chinese proverb:

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a man named Ma Yuan. He had been planning to herd animals on the frontier since he was young. When he grew up, Ma became a minor official of a county.

Once, he was sending some prisoners to another location. He felt pity for them, so he set them free, and then he fled to another county in the north. He herded animals there, and thus his dream came true. He always said: “If you want to be a great man, the poorer you are, the firmer in spirit you have to be; the older you are, the more spirited you should be.”

Later, when he was even older, Ma Yuan became a famous general of the Eastern Han Dynasty and contributed to many battles.

溫故知新 is a proverb from Confucius that is used in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cultures.

It can be translated in several ways:
Coming up with new ideas based on things learned in the past.
Examine things of the past, and obtain new knowledge.
Developing new ideas based on the study of the past.
Gain new insights through restudying old issues.
Understand the present by reviewing the past.
Learning from the past.
Review the old and know the new.
Taking a lesson from the past.
Taking a lesson from the wisdom of the ancients.
Follow the old ways.

The direct translation would be, “By asking old things, know new things.”
The Character meanings breakdown this way:
溫故 = ask old
知新 = know new

Explained: To learn new things that are outside of your experience, you can learn from old things of the past. You can find wisdom in history.

VS.

Note: Japanese use a variant of the first Kanji in modern times.
Therefore if you order this from a Japanese calligrapher, expect the first Kanji to look like 温 instead of 溫.

In addition to 温故知新 as mentioned above, this is sometimes written as 温古知新 in Japan.

The meaning of 復古 can vary depending on the context. It used to mean a return to the old ways.

It can also mean “to turn back the clock,” “retro” (fashion style based on nostalgia, esp. for the 1960s), “revival,” or “restoration.”

The return to “the old ways” was also an aspiration of Confucius about 2500 years ago. This proves that “going retro” or “old school” has been cool since at least 500 B.C.

生老病死 means “to be born, to grow old, to get sick and to die” or “birth, aging, sickness, and death.”

This is an old somewhat-morbid Chinese proverb that is also used in Korean and Japanese. It figuratively means the fate of humankind (i.e. mortality) or suggests that we are all born to suffer.

In the Buddhist context, there are the “four inevitables in human life” or “four afflictions that are the lot of every human” known as “四苦” (literally “four afflictions”). Sometimes this proverb is written with that affliction character, 苦, at the end like 生老病死苦.

老師 directly translates as “old teacher,” “old master,” or “old sage.”

Together, they are understood as “teacher.” When you think about that, also realize that with age comes respect in Asian cultures. So calling someone old is a term of respect (not like the way we mean it in English). You could replace “old” with “respected” and be closer to how this is meant in Chinese.

Teachers, in general, are more respected by their students and the population in China. When I was a teacher in China, I certainly felt that.

This term is also used for masters of certain fields. For instance, a master calligrapher would respectfully be addressed as a “teacher.” In this case, “master” and “teacher” are synonymous.

Other artists (especially those who are famous or accomplished) should be addressed with this term. Also, some martial arts schools use this term of respect for their masters/teachers/instructors.

This title is recognized in Japanese as "roushi" with the same meaning but it’s rarely used in Japan.

白頭偕老 is a Chinese proverb that means (to live together until the) white hairs of old age.

This is the Chinese way of saying “to live to a ripe old age in conjugal bliss” or “until death do us part.”

不怕人老只怕心老 literally translates as: Do not be concerned about being old; be concerned about a mind which is old.

Figuratively, this means: You are not as old as you look, you are only as old as you think you are.