We establish a general existence and uniqueness result of L 1 solution for a multidimensional backward stochastic differential equation (BSDE for short) with generator g satisfying a one-sided Osgood condition as well as a general growth condition in y, and a Lipschitz condition together with a sublinear growth condition in z, which improves some existing results. In particular, we put forward and prove a stability theorem of the L 1 solutions for the first time. A new type of L 1 solution is also investigated. Some delicate techniques involved in the relationship between convergence in L 1 and in probability and dividing appropriately the time interval play crucial roles in our proofs.