Monthly sunshine duration data collected in 26 weather stations in Gansu province from 1961 to 2010 were used to analyze the spatial and temporal variation and abrupt change of sunshine duration by using methods of climate tendency rate analysis,anomaly analysis,Mann-Kendall,spatial analysis,and power spectral analysis.The results showed that in the period from 1961 to 2010,the sunshine duration decreased very slowly with linear trend rate of -0.29 h/(10 a) but there was a pronounced and significant decrease phase from 1997 to 2010 with linear trend rate being -109.8 h/(10 a).Sunshine duration in summer and winter was on the decline,while it showed an increasing trend in spring and autumn.The annual sunshine duration was much less than normal in 1980s but extremely excessive since the 1990s.The results indicated that there were obvious spatial differences of the sunshine duration in Gansu province.The distribution trend of sunshine duration basically showed a gradually increasing situation from southeast to northwest.The results of Mann-Kendall and Yamamoto test indicated that there was no significant mutation for seasonal sunshine duration.Analysis of power spectrum showed that the sunshine duration of Gansu had quasi-periodic oscillation of 2-year and passed the 90% confidence level test.