In the context of Catholic mission schools in China, the Jingyi school represents an interesting case study. It was founded in 1932, and until its confiscation in 1951, it remained the only middle and high school for girls in Kaifeng, a provincial capital of 300,000 inhabitants, distant from the main industrial centres of China, with a very low foreign presence, but deeply affected by the intense warfare of the 1930s and 1940s. For 20 years, the American congregation of the Sisters of the Divine Providence educated Chinese girls and adolescents, from different social strata, contributing not only to their spiritual growth but also to their emancipation in a time of major cultural and political changes, subtly challenging the many inequalities of the traditional Chinese society. During the so-called Liberation, the Communists addressed the school as "a stronghold of feudalism", but actually the way of life of many students and educators, as reported in missionary accounts, testifies a firm rejection of the stereotypical feminine passivity, crystallized by the long Confucian tradition. In many cases, these young women decided not to marry, to support themselves, and live up to their ideals and moral standards to the point of facing political persecution and social harassment. By reconstructing the history of the Jingyi and highlighting the lives of some of its teachers and students, this presentation wants to offer an insight into the Chinese Catholic women of Kaifeng and their struggle against the inequalities of their times.