The Birman, also known as the "Sacred Cat of Burma", is shrouded in mystery. The legend of these temple cats goes back before the time of Buddha, to the Temple of Lao-Tsun honoring the god Song-Hyo & the goddess Tsun-Kyan-kse. Priests & monks dedicated their lives to worshipping the goddess. Pure white cats also lived with the priests. It was believed that after death, a priest returned to the temple as one of the white cats.

One of the cats, Sinh, was the devoted companion of a very old priest, Mun-Ha. One night when Mun-Ha was praying before the goddess, Thai raiders attacked the temple & the priest was killed. Immediately, Sinh leapt upon the body of his master. As the priest's soul entered Sinh, the white hair of the cat's body turned golden like the old priest's beard & it's eyes became sapphire blue like the eyes of the goddess. Sinh's face, tail & legs became brown like the earth except for the feet, which rested on the slain pries, these remained white, denoting purity.

Seven days later, Sinh died & carried into paradise the soul of Mun-Ha. The next morning all the other cats had undergone the same transformation. Since that time, the priests have guarded their golden cats, believing them to have the souls of priests. The legend ends: "Woe to he who brings the end to one of these marvelous beasts, even if he didn't mean to. He will surely suffer the most cruel torments until the soul he upset has been appeased."