The skill of leading a country well — the ability itself, not the person who has it. So statesman is the leader and statesmanship is what they are good at: seeing far ahead, keeping calm in a crisis, getting enemies to agree, putting the country above the party.

The skill of leading a country well把一個國家治理好的能力 — the ability itself而不是那個能力本身, not the person who has it不是指擁有這種能力的人. So statesman is the leader所以 statesman 指的是那位領導者 and statesmanship is what they are good at而 statesmanship 指的是他們擅長的那件事: seeing far ahead看得長遠, keeping calm in a crisis危機時保持冷靜, getting enemies to agree讓敵對雙方達成共識, putting the country above the party把國家放在黨派之上.

When a newspaper writes "the talks failed for want of statesmanship", it means nobody in the room had that skill. It is a formal, admiring word, and it takes no a and no plural — you speak of statesmanship, real statesmanship, an act of statesmanship. It also appears in requires statesmanship and a rare piece of statesmanship.

When a newspaper writes當報紙寫 'the talks failed for want of statesmanship'這次談判因為缺乏政治家風範而失敗, it means意思是 nobody in the room had that skill在場沒有人具備那種能力. It is a formal, admiring word這是一個正式、帶讚賞意味的詞, and it takes no a and no plural而且不加 a 也沒有複數 — you speak of statesmanship你會說 statesmanship, real statesmanship真正的政治家風範, an act of statesmanship一次政治家風範的展現. It also appears in它也會出現在 requires statesmanship需要政治家風範 and a rare piece of statesmanship以及一次難得的政治家風範這種說法裡.

Notice what the -ship ending is doing. It makes the name of a skill or a condition that goes with being that kind of person: friend → friendship, leader → leadership, member → membership. Statesmanship is the leadership of a whole country done wisely.

Notice注意 what the -ship ending is doing-ship 這個字尾在做什麼. It makes the name of a skill or a condition它把某種技能或狀態變成一個名詞 that goes with being that kind of person也就是身為那種人所具備的: friend → friendship朋友 → 友誼, leader → leadership領導者 → 領導能力, member → membership成員 → 會員身分. Statesmanship is statesmanship 就是 the leadership of a whole country領導一整個國家的能力 done wisely而且做得有智慧.

Though actually, like statesman itself, the word feels slightly old-fashioned now, and it is used more about the past than the present — writers reach for leadership or diplomacy when writing about people alive today.

Though actually不過, like statesman itself就像 statesman 這個字本身一樣, the word feels slightly old-fashioned now這個詞現在聽起來有點過時, and it is used more about the past than the present而且比較常用來講過去而不是現在 — writers reach for leadership or diplomacy作家寫到現在還活著的人時 when writing about people alive today會改用 leadership 或 diplomacy 這些詞.