Rare earth sulfides were systematically synthesized via the sulfurization of their commercial oxide powders using CS2 gas to shorten sulfurization time, and their UV-vis absorption spectra were investigated. The appropriate sulfurization conditions were studied. For the rare earth sulfides with the same crystal structure, the sulfurization temperature showed increasing tendency with the decrease of rare earth element atomic radii. The UV-vis absorption spectra of rare earth sulfides did not depend on the crystal structure of rare earth sulfides, but on the 4f electronic structure of rare earth element. The data showed that the optical band gaps of rare earth sulfides were irregular, and the values ranged from 1.65 to 3.75 eV.