Baqiu (巴丘) was a river city on the middle Yangtze near Dongting Lake, in the area of modern Yueyang in Hunan. Controlling routes between the lake and the main channel of the Yangtze, it served Eastern Wu as a convenient point to gather ships and troops for upriver or downriver operations.
In 210, Zhou Yu, then Administrator of Nan Commandery and Second General, chose Baqiu as the base from which to launch an ambitious campaign west into Yi Province. He travelled there to assemble forces and arrange logistics, but fell gravely ill before the expedition could begin. He died at Baqiu early that year, after recommending Lu Su as his successor. His death at Baqiu ended Wu’s immediate plans to seize Yi Province and removed one of the Three Kingdoms period’s most brilliant strategists.