Currently, the key point of maintaining stability is to prevent and solve social conflicts. This paper points out that many methods in working out social conflicts are migrated so that maintaining stability intensifies the structural tension instead of efficient resolving contradictions because the current structural tension has not been fully understood.Based on analyzing the origin of structural tension, this paper further discusses the essentials of maintaining stability, that is, keeping institutional equity. This paper finally puts forward the multilateral settlement mechanism from the following four ways: adjustment of social benefit structure, benefit compensation of specific benefit losers, intensification of institutionalized methods and consideration of public opinion.