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Dynamic characteristics of rock masses are an important part of the safety and stability analysis in rock mass engineering. The split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) tests on the phosphate rock in Yichang are conducted, combined with the Split-desktop digital image method and mesoscopic discrete element method (DEM). Both macroscopic and mesoscopic characteristics of the phosphate rock have been studied from such perspectives as stress and strain, fractal characteristics of fragment size, and the spatial and temporal evolution of cracks. The research results show that the dynamic strength of the phosphate rock presents obvious strain rate effect, but the dynamic elasticity modulus is not so sensitive to the strain rate. There is a great correlation between the failure degree of rock specimens and the strain rate. The fractal characteristics of specimen fragments can be used to quantitatively evaluate the rock failure degree under impact loading. According to the characteristics of crack propagation, the rock failure process under the impact can be divided into four stages, namely the elastic crack-free stage, the crack initiation stage, the rapid crack growth stage, and the slow crack development stage. Moreover, with the increase of impact loading, micro-cracks are activated in large quantities. The specimens gradually change from the local damage mode to the axial splitting failure mode and to the crushing failure mode, and in this process, the number of tensile cracks takes an absolute advantage compared with the number of shear cracks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]