As part of the modernization project of Buddhism in the first half of twentieth-century, Chinese laypeople and monastics discussed Western psychology by framing their engagements with yogācāra teachings. Their activity peaked during the Nanjing Decade (1928–1937), when the establishment of a “revolutionary mentality” (geming xinli) became a centripetal force in nation-building. With my research, I aim to analyse an early, albeit brief and overlooked, knowledge production on “Buddhist psychology” (fojiao xinlixue) independent of Western approaches.