Several parts combine into one character.

右 pairs with 左 by sharing the same hand-symbol (ナ) on top — but where 左 has 工 (tool) below, 右 has 口 (mouth). The encoding: the right hand is the one that brings food to the mouth, and that "speaks" for you in actions. Like 左, the original character carried a double sense — direction and "assistance / protection" — and the helping sense was later moved to 佑 (亻+右). Identical across 繁體 / 新字体 / 简体.

The stroke order is the inverse of 左: in 右, the diagonal stroke comes FIRST, then the horizontal. This single difference distinguishes a well-written pair from an awkward one. Calligraphers spend a surprising amount of time on this exact distinction.

A broader cultural note: across English, Latin, Chinese, and Japanese, "right" and "righteous" are entangled. English "right" means both correct and the direction; Latin "dexter" gave us "dexterous"; the Mandarin associations are looser but the Japanese 正 (correct) and 右 share a sense of "the proper side". This is one of the rare cross-language metaphors that survives nearly intact.

Mandarin: yòu, falling 4th tone. 右边 (yòubiān, right side), 左右 (zuǒyòu, left-and-right / approximately), 右派 (yòupài, right-wing politically — 19th-century European loan).

Japanese: TWO on-readings, split by domain. ウ (u) is the common modern reading — 右折 (usetsu, right turn — every Japanese driving lesson uses this), 右翼 (uyoku, right-wing). ユウ (yū) is older, surviving in 座右の銘 (zayū no mei, "motto" — literally "the inscription beside one's seat"). Kun-reading みぎ (migi) is the everyday word — 右 (migi, right), 右手 (migite, right hand).

Memory aid: hand on top + mouth below. The hand that feeds the mouth.