Who Is Prince Qing?

Chinese armchair historians love to divine political fortunes of the high and mighty in historical allegories du jour. People of a certain age remember how the story of Hai Rui, a 16th century official who remonstrated with the emperor about the latter's personal conduct, became the curtain-raiser to the Great Cultural Revolution. So, it was not surprising how a storm was kicked up by an essay titled "Problem with the Corrupt Prince Qing" posted on the website of the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection just before the annual parliamentary session.