Due to numerous influencing factors and complexity of the interaction mechanism among these factors, current study on riverbank stability is still difficult to meet the demand of quantitative calculation. In this paper, a riverbank stability evaluation index system is constructed by combining qualitative analysis with quantitative calculation. In this process, the basic principle of selecting the evaluation indexes of riverbank stability is analyzed. The evaluation index system of river bank stability is divided into three layers: target layer, attribute layer and index layer. According to the current situation, influencing factors and change process of riverbank stability, the current situation of bank line, the geological condition of bank slope, the condition of bank protection completeness, the change of river regime, and the scour degree and slope of river bed near bank are analyzed. The reliability of evaluation results in the process of river bank stability assessment is also discussed.The discussion and analysis demonstrate: the riverbank stability evaluation index system is based on the quantitative attempt of multiple dynamic variable factors; the validity of the system depends on the reliability and representativeness of the monitoring data of the nearshore riverbed; further study can be performed in terms of quantitative or optimal calculation methods for specific river sections as well as the verification of the riverbank stability evaluation index system.