High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Yuan Tan (died 205) was the oldest son of the warlord Yuan Shao during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. After Yuan Shao`s death, Yuan Tan split with his youngest brother Yuan Shang over the successorship to their father`s realm. Yuan Tan sought help from the warlord Cao Cao and defeated Yuan Shang. The alliance, however, eventually broke and Yuan Tan was defeated and killed by Cao.