An analysis is made of the annual, seasonal, and monthly variation characteristics of sunshine duration in recent 50 years and its relationship with total cloudiness, trying to detect the variation of sunshine duration in Chengdu by the abrupt climate change theory. The results indicate that in recent 50 years, the sunshine duration decreased with a tendency of 69.41 hours per ten years; the interannual variation amplitude was obviously greater; and the difference between the sunshine durations in 1963 and in 1989 is up to 662.8 hours. There is obvious seasonal difference in sunshine duration, with bigger decreasing amplitude in summer and winter than those in spring and autumn and a tendency of -29.77 and -20.17, -9.91 and -9.56 hours per ten years, respectively. The decreasing tendency is obviously greater in August and less in April. The annual variation of sunshine duration is consistent with sunshine percentage. The sudden change occurred around 1978, with the annual sunshine duration decreased rapidly.