Abstract: The study of rock mass dynamic mechanical behavior and the properties of stress wave propagation has become one of the key scientific issues. However, discontinuities of various scales ranging from micro-defects to macro-joints widely exist in natural rock mass, which affect the propagation of stress waves and lead to the attenuation of stress wave energy. The effects of micro-defects and macro-joints in rock mass on stress wave propagation are different in mechanism, fully understanding of the stress wave propagation in different scale discontinuities is of great significance to the development of rock mass engineering. First, the attenuation mechanism of stress wave propagation through micro-defected rock mass was analyzed, the wave scattering method, equivalent elastic modulus method and equivalent viscoelastic continuous medium method of stress wave propagation in micro-defected rock mass were described in detail, and the applicability, advantages and disadvantages of the methods were compared. Second, the transmission and reflection mechanism of stress wave propagation across macro-jointed rock mass was further analyzed, the displacement discontinuity method and equivalent continuum method were systematically introduced, and the advantages and disadvantages of the methods were emphatically summarized. Subsequently, the calculation methods of stress wave propagation through rock mass with double-scale discontinuities were summarized. The stress wave propagation through rock mass with double-scale discontinuities can be analyzed in the same frame, and different mechanism of micro-defect and macro-joint on stress wave propagation can be revealed by the methods. Finally, combined major national projects such as deep and polar rock mass engineering, the application of stress wave propagation method in the stability analysis of rock mass engineering under extreme environments was prospected.